Notre Dame football's Week 4 matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes has the potential to be one of the best games of the year. The AP poll ranked No. 9 Fighting Irish will be hosting the No. 6 Buckeyes in South Bend. This will be only the second matchup this season against top-10 ranked opponents, with the first being when then No. 6 LSU faced No. 8 Florida State in the opener in Week 1.

*Watch college football LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Both teams, of course, are coming in undefeated, although Notre Dame (4-0), playing in Week 0, has played in one more game than Ohio State (3-0). This is one of those games that not even at the midway point of the season could have major implications for the College Football Playoff, especially considering there is more parity this year among teams. As of this writing, oddsmakers believe this has all the capabilities of being a close one, with Ohio State only being a 3.5-point favorite, per FanDuel. That's one of many reasons ticket prices have soared.

This will be only the second season for Marcus Freeman as head coach of the Fighting Irish, and now he'll have one of his biggest tests of his young career as head man. At least he will have Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman behind center, who has been nothing but outstanding since joining the Irish. He was far and away one of the best pickups out of the transfer portal this season, as he has well paid off thus far for Notre Dame. Freeman will be hoping he was the missing component to make this highly competitive against the likes of teams like Ohio State.

Does anyone believe in Notre Dame football yet, though? We'll find out Saturday if they are for real or not. Now, let's get into some Notre Dame Week 4 predictions.

4. Notre Dame Stadium keeps Ohio State QB Kyle McCord rattled

To say that Ohio State football's September schedule has been nothing short of a snoozefest would be an understatement. They've played no one of merit so far. With that being said, it's difficult to tell what exactly they will be bringing to South Bend on Saturday. We know that CJ Stroud is gone and that Ryan Day has trusted Kyle McCord as his new starting quarterback. It's just that we still don't know what McCord is at the position yet.

The junior is filling in for some big shoes not only in Stroud but several of the last Buckeyes quarterbacks over the years, who have all been Heisman candidates. He's essentially had four weeks of scrimmage games — playing at Notre Dame now is the barometer test to see if he's an asset or a liability to Ohio State. Junior season or not, this is a tall order for head coach Ryan Day to ask of anybody. My guess is, McCord gets rattled and makes some crucial mistakes during the game, throwing a pick or two.

3. Notre Dame will score in every quarter, thanks to Sam Hartman

Last year's Notre Dame offense sputtered often. Now, they have Sam Hartman to alleviate those offensive issues. The Fighting Irish lost 21-10 in last year's game against the Buckeyes because they couldn't score. They only scored in the first half, with a field goal in the first quarter and a touchdown in the second. That's likely not to happen in this year's game.

It will be interesting to see what second-year Ohio State football defensive coordinator Jim Knowles dials up against the Irish football team in this year's contest, however. But I believe Hartman is going to make a huge difference in this game where last year the Irish struggled. Notre Dame only threw for 177 yards in last year's game. Hartman has only thrown under that amount five times in his career, and the last time that happened was in the 2020 season. He'll not only have the yards, though, he'll have the touchdowns as well. Notre Dame scores in every quarter.

2. Audric Estime rushes for 100 yards or more

Spoiler alert, but when I'm doing Notre Dame predictions, this will probably be one I go with every week. Audric Estime is having a career year this season, already rushing for 521 yards and five touchdowns. Assuming Notre Dame's offensive line play can handle the talented defensive front of the Buckeyes all night, there's no reason Estime can't and won't get his touches and yardage. Estime gets his 100 yards at the very least and one score.

1. Notre Dame football beats Ohio State

This has been one prediction I've been sticking with for weeks. That's in large part due to the great play of Hartman, who I look for to have another big day against the Buckeyes. There's so much that seems to be going right for the Irish this early in the year, and I just don't believe it ends with another Ohio State loss.

They have the homefield advantage of being in South Bend. They have the better quarterback. And they have the number four ranked defense in the country currently. Stroud was clearly the better quarterback last year between the two teams, and they kept him in check most of the night. Notre Dame lost because they couldn't score. That shouldn't be a problem now. Notre Dame beats Ohio State for the first time since 1936, even if Ryan Day did guarantee the Buckeyes would win.