Game Thread | Stanford at No. 11 Notre Dame

Stanford (2-3) at No. 11 Notre Dame (4-1) 

Notre Dame Stadium | 3:30 PM ET | NBC | Line: Notre Dame -22.5 | Total: 45.5

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Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame DT Howard Cross
Cross had his best game of the season against Louisville and getting that extra rest during the bye week should only help him stay at that level. With Stanford's interior offensive line struggling in pass protection, we should see plenty of Cross in the backfield.

Stanford LB Tristan Sinclair
Sinclair had a great performance against Virginia Tech last week and has improved significantly from last season. He's a big hitter who gets sent on the blitz a lot, and he'll be all over the field for the Cardinal.

Notre Dame WR Jaden Greathouse
Louisville might have been a bit of a breakout game for Greathouse and the train should keep rolling against a Stanford defense that has had issues at nickel and safety. That's good news for Notre Dame's slot receiver and he might end up in the end zone again this week for the Irish.

Stanford WR Elic Ayomanor
Possibly the most physically gifted receiver the Irish will face this season, Ayomanor can wow with his combination of size, speed, and ball skills. The problem is that Stanford's quarterbacks have had a tough time connecting with him deep as they did last season. He'll get a high volume of targets like he does every week and Notre Dame will pay special attention to him in coverage.

Notre Dame LB Drayk Bowen
Bowen was ballin' playing the run and he's becoming a better pass rusher from week to week as well. His arrow continues to keep pointing up and it should be the norm for Notre Dame fans to see big things from him each game. 

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
”You need to study the past to learn from the mistakes, so you can make sure you can perform better on Saturday. It’s a rivalry game. That’s a lot of our motivation to compete in this rivalry game, but at the end of the day, we have to continue to chase being the best version of ourselves and reaching our full potential. That’s the only motivation you need. There are different ways you can motivate them daily, but at the end of the day, we’re trying to reach our full potential. We want to make sure we win this Legends Trophy.” 

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock: 
“I think what's most exciting to me is the continued growth of confidence and understanding of what we're doing. I think we've seen glimpses of what it can really kind of turn into and become here. We're at about the point in the season where it's time for that to kind of kick into gear. I've seen that progress over the last couple games, and now that's continued into last week, continued into this week. And hoping that that translates to the way we play on Saturday.”  

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
”Coach Freeman, Chad (Bowden), the staff, I think everybody is doing a great job of identifying Notre Dame kids and bringing them in. It’s also the transition. How do you get a young man, a young player, a young student-athlete ready to go? That’s a credit to the staff, the strength staff, our coaches, our quality control and our (grad assistants).

“There’s a lot of work that goes into that. I probably didn’t see all that coming. You just named a lot of guys. I probably didn’t see that, but it’s a really productive wave of young players that love the game. I’m going to be honest with you: Those guys love the game, they talk the game, they’re competitors. And I do not flinch, whether it’s Leonard Moore, Bryce Young, Kyng (KVA) – it doesn’t matter who it is. They go out there, and they’re part of the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish defense. They’re not a freshman and they’ve earned that.”

 Notre Dame DB Jordan Clark:
“It’s been everything and more,” said Clark. “The games that we’ve been able to play in, the expectations, the adversity that we’ve had, it’s everything that I could have hoped for. I came here to grow, and I think I’ve been in situations that have really just promoted that in every way.

“I’ve been able to grow and learn from so many experiences, wins, failures. Ultimately, it’s amazing and I can’t wait to keep it going.” 

For Your Nerves 

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