The Louisville football team was a College Football Playoff contender back in the days of Lamar Jackson, but after he went to the NFL, the Cardinals haven't been able to replicate that success. In the offseason, Louisville snagged Jeff Brohm from Purdue to become the new head coach, and so far, he has done a great job with this team. He brought quarterback Jack Plummer over over with him, and the Cardinals have been terrific to begin the season.

So far, Louisville is 5-0 with wins against Georgia Tech, Murray State, Indiana, Boston College and NC State. This team hasn't played anyone great yet, but they have taken care of business in the first five weeks. Three of those games have been within one possession, and the fact that they won all of them shows that this team knows how to stay composed and make winning plays in crunch time.

Things get a lot more difficult this week for Louisville as Notre Dame football comes to town. This is by far the biggest test of the season so far for the Cardinals, and maybe in general. This is a massive opportunity for this team to get a statement win in Jeff Brohm's first season, and it would result in a big jump in the rankings for the Cardinals.

Notre Dame football is ranked #10 in the country despite a recent home loss against Ohio State. The Fighting Irish felt like they had that game won, but they let it slip away in the final minutes, and they are now 5-1 because of it. Still, this is a very good football team. They went on the road last week and got a big bounce back win against Duke, and now they have another ranked opponent this week in Louisville. Both teams have a big opportunity in front of them in this game. Here are three predictions for the top-25 clash.

Louisville's defense will have its worst performance yet

So far this season, the Louisville football defense has been very solid. They struggled a lot in the second quarter of their week one game against Georgia Tech as they gave up 28 points, but other than that, the defense has been consistently good for the Cardinals. Expect that to change a bit this weekend. It's great that the defense has performed well, but they haven't faced a QB like Sam Hartman yet. Hartman transferred to Notre Dame in the offseason, and he has been one of the best QBs in the country this season. Expect him and the Fighting Irish offense to find some success this weekend.

Jack Plummer will throw two interceptions

Jack Plummer has had a lot of good moments this season, but he has also gotten into trouble a lot. Through five games, he has thrown six interceptions. That's not good. This Notre Dame defense knows that, and they are going to do everything in their power to make him uncomfortable and force him into a mistake. Turnovers can be killers in a big game like this, and the Fighting Irish and going to find a way to force a couple of them out of Plummer.

Louisville will lose by double digits

Notre Dame football is coming into this game favored by 6.5, but don't be surprised if they cover that spread pretty easily. Louisville looks like a much improved team, but they have had a lot of close games with teams that aren't on Notre Dame's level. Brohm is doing a good job with his squad, but they aren't quite ready to pick up a win of this caliber yet. The Fighting Irish are going to win this one relatively easily.

Notre Dame vs. Louisville gets going on Saturday at 7:30 ET from Louisville, KY, and the game will be airing on ABC.