It's rivalry week across college football, and trophies from an egg to a platypus will be handed out in some of this country's most historic matchups. One of those games is the 90th all-time meeting between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and USC Trojans.
Marcus Freeman's team has completely turned the tide from early-season struggles in his first year as head coach, as the No. 13 Irish sit at 8-3 with impressive wins over Clemson and North Carolina.
Lincoln Riley of USC is also in his first year as the top man, guiding his Trojans to a 10-1 record and a berth in the Pac 12 title game, just the solitary loss to Utah blemishing their record.
USC is hoping to further cement a possible College Football Playoff appearance on Saturday, while Notre Dame will be looking to play spoiler, potentially launching into position for a New Years Six bowl.
Let's look at things from the Notre Dame perspective today, with two bold predictions for the Fighting Irish's clash with No. 5 USC.
*Watch college football games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*
3. Notre Dame's defense stops Caleb Williams' Heisman campaign in its tracks
The Heisman race remains wide open deep in the regular season, with Tennessee's Hendon Hooker, Ohio State's CJ Stroud, Michigan's Blake Corum, and USC's Caleb Williams all receiving heavy praise for their efforts.
After last week's performance against UCLA, many have picked Williams as the current leader for college football's highest individual award. However, it's worth noting that Caleb Williams has yet to face a pass defense ranked higher than 50th, and the Fighting Irish are well inside that territory.
Beyond the defense completely shutting down Clemson's DJ Uiagalelei and North Carolina's Drake Maye in back to back weeks, if you look back to the very first week of the season, Notre Dame also made Stroud and Ohio State's high-powered offense work to put up points in the opener. If the coverage can stick and pass rush gets home, it may be a very long day for Caleb Williams and the USC offense.
2. Notre Dame's offense comes alive
It's no secret that USC's defense has struggled greatly for large portions of the season. The Trojans have given up 35 or more points in four of their last five games, and neither Cal nor Arizona are the kind of teams you want to be giving up five touchdowns to.
Irish quarterback Drew Pyne seems to have finally put the pieces together, playing well as Notre Dame has scored 35 or more points in each of its last five games.
If they're able to do so again, which almost appears likely at this point, the Irish should have no problem keeping up with USC on the scoreboard.
1. Notre Dame beats USC by 10 points or more
Look, as we've established, USC's defense bas been about as thin as paper recently, and the offense has yet to play a single good defense in 11 games. Everything here is set up for Notre Dame to come out and punch USC in the mouth, with the Trojans unable to counter. Expect the Fighting Irish to dominate both lines of scrimmage, and perhaps create a timely turnover or two.
If Williams' timing is disrupted and Pyne can stay efficient, this one may be decided before USC's final possession. Something has felt off about USC all season, and we saw them partially collapse against Utah. If the cracks begin to show, it all may come tumbling down for the Trojans on Saturday.
Follow Us
Subscribe