Game Thread | No. 3 Notre Dame at USC

No. 3 Notre Dame (11-0) at USC (5-6) 

LA Memorial Coliseum |8:00 p.m. ET | ABC

Game Week Articles | Roster| Depth Chart | Schedule | Staff Predictions

For All The Marbles 

No.3 Notre Dame will travel to face USC on Saturday in the LA Memorial Coliseum. The Irish have a series lead with a record of 47-37-5 against the Trojans and came out victorious in last year’s meeting with a 49-14 win. Head Coach Brian Kelly is 5-3 against USC and seeks his sixth win in the rivalry.

The matchup to watch with is Notre Dame’s experienced secondary against USC’s youth at wide receiver with true freshman JT Daniels throwing the football. The Trojans have home run threats all over the field that can take it to the house every time they touch the football. They have four wideouts that Notre Dame secondary will have to account for each and every play, Michael Pittman Jr., Tyler Vaughns, Velus Jones Jr., and true freshman Amon-Ra St. Brown who has already shown a connection with fellow freshman Daniels. Led by Julian Love and Alohi Gilman the Irish secondary will have to play with the same discipline they have shown the whole year.

It will also be interesting to see how USC true freshman signal-caller JT Daniels deals with pressure the Irish defensive line accounts for every play, led by Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem.

Another marquee matchup that will be fun to watch will be Notre Dame’s experienced pass catchers against USC’s senior secondary. USC’s secondary is held down by four seniors, Jonathan Lockett, Isaiah Langley, Marvell Tell and Ajene Harris who do an excellent job forcing pass-breakups. They don’t get a lot of take-a-ways but make it hard for receivers to catch the ball cleanly. The Irish will counter USC’s secondary with experience and with receivers Miles Boykin, Chris Finke and Chase Claypool. The Irish wideouts are going to focus heavily on creating separation and completing catches before making their first moves upfield to be successful.

Five Players To Watch

USC WR Michael Pittman
Not only big (6'4" 215), Pittman is explosive. He averages close to 20 yards per reception and has even blocked a punt for the Trojans this year. If they're going to have a chance in this game, they'll need him to be a playmaker and win the one on one battle against Julian Love.

USC S Marvell Tell
Tell has been a bright spot in USC's injury-ravaged defense, but he comes into this game on a bad ankle. That's not good when they'll need him to tackle Dexter Williams to prevent big plays from the Irish running back.

Notre Dame DE Julian Okwara
USC right tackle Chuma Edoga is expected back after missing two games, which is huge for them because his backup had issues the last two weeks. Even a healthy Edoga will have his hands full with Okwara, who has been a consistent pass rush presence all season long for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame S Jalen Elliott 
Elliott has gone from struggling player to ballhawk in one year. With 17 turnover worthy throws and 10 interceptions from JT Daniels, Elliott could have a chance to have a massive impact on this game just like he did against Syracuse.

Notre Dame WR Miles Boykin
His matchup against cornerback Iman Marshall favors Boykin. If he's not making back-shoulder catches down the field, he might be drawing pass interference penalties. 

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on team loving to be around each other:
“They want to hang out with their teammates. They're looking forward to Wednesday and Thursday, the flight, being there on Friday. They're more interested in hanging out with their teammates. That's important to them. They really enjoy being around their teammates. Then they love to play on Saturdays.

“You add those two things up, yeah, they're sure going to enjoy warmer weather, but I think more than anything else they really enjoy being around their teammates, and they love playing together on Saturday.” 

LB Drue Tranquill on USC rivalry: 
“It’s chippy. Both teams bring it. Guys will be chirping and talking. We’re going to try to keep our talking to a minimum and focus on our business, but there’s a lot of emotions that go into it. 

“When you have two programs with a lot of tradition, it intensifies the game a little bit.”

DL Jerry Tillery on keeping focus on USC:
“We can’t play for the National Championship on Saturday. We can beat USC on Saturday. That’s our focus.” 

Countdown to Kickoff

10 - Syracuse, which averaged 44.4 points per game entering last Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium, managed its only scoring play thanks to a field goal with 10 seconds remaining.

9 - Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State are the only teams in the nation with at least nine wins against Power Five foes after the first 12 weeks of the 2018 season.

8 - Notre Dame forced Syracuse to punt on eight different occasions, tying a season high for the Orange.

7 - Notre Dame has earned seven ranked wins as part of its 20-win surge over the past 22 games.

6 - Notre Dame’s six sacks against Syracuse were the most in a single game for the Irish since the Shamrock Series against Arizona State on Oct. 5, 2013.

5 - The home team in the Notre Dame-USC series has been the victor in each of the last five meetings between the squads since 2012.

4 - Syracuse was the fourth team that Notre Dame has held under 250 yards of total offense this season (234 yards). The last time the Irish held four different opponents under 250 yards in a single season was 2006.

3 - On nine total plays from scrimmage in the third quarter last Saturday at Yankee Stadium, the Notre Dame defense limited Syracuse to -8 yards of total offense.

2 - USC is the second-most common opponent in Notre Dame football history (90th meeting on Saturday). Notre Dame and Navy have met 92 times in the most common Irish series.

1 - The first-team Notre Dame defense limited Syracuse to roughly 122 yards of total offense through three-plus quarters last Saturday.

Yoon Watch

Senior kicker Justin Yoon (57) equaled Kyle Brindza (2011-14) for the Notre Dame career field goals lead with three successful attempts against No. 12 Syracuse.

For Your Nerves 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDDEhXr3NEE

http://instagr.am/p/BqiskQhFAyq