The Notre Dame football team started off the 2023 season hot and surged into the top-10 of the AP Poll ahead of their huge home showdown against Ohio State. The Fighting Irish had the Buckeyes on the ropes late in that game, but too many miscues late in the contest led to Notre Dame losing their lead, and the game. Notre Dame suffered a second loss last weekend against Louisville, and the Fighting Irish are now 5-2 and ranked #21 in the country.

For the fourth consecutive week, Notre Dame football has a night game against a ranked team. This time, it's USC football that will be coming to South Bend, and this edition of the rivalry should be a great one. Former Notre Dame defensive end Justin Tuck is fired up for the game, and he wishes that he could still play.

“I tell Coach Freeman all the time, I still got one year of eligibility and if you ever need me to come play third downs, this would be the game for me to do it,” Justin Tuck said according to a tweet from Tyler Horka.

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While Freeman would likely love to have Tuck on the field, we he will have to make do without him. Still, it sounds like this Notre Dame football team is ready for this big matchup.

Notre Dame is focused and ready for USC

“Everything I’ve heard coming out of South Bend these last couple of weeks is that this team is going to continuously be focused,” Tuck continued. “Hopefully that shows up on the football field.”

Notre Dame is a narrow favorite heading into this game against the Trojans. The Fighting Irish are favored by 2.5, and they are hoping to hand USC their first loss of the season.