Notre Dame sits at a turning point of the 2023 season and perhaps Marcus Freeman era entering Saturday night.
A win and 6-2 doesn’t feel quite as bad as a 10-win regular season remains a possibility.
A loss and 5-3 clearly hits different with a New Year’s Six bowl game out of the picture before even reaching the midway point of October.
So how does Notre Dame beat USC? What gives the Irish the best chance to ruin the Trojans undefeated season?
We asked Matt Zemek of Trojans Wire and he shared his thoughts.
What is Notre Dame’s biggest source of hope entering this week? USC’s run defense was good — not spectacular, but perfectly decent (in other words, not catastrophically awful the way it was for much of last season) — in the first five games of the season. In the Arizona game this past weekend, USC’s run defense was bad. The Trojans were repeatedly gashed by an Arizona offensive line which simply outworked USC’s front.
If USC can get punched in the mouth by Arizona, Notre Dame should do as well or better. Notre Dame’s path to victory is obvious: Punch USC’s defensive line in the mouth, ram the ball down the throats of a very soft and weak Alex Grinch defense, control the ball for 42 minutes, and don’t let Caleb Williams onto the field. Being able to knock the snot out of USC up front would also make Gerad Parker’s job so much easier. USC is a soft team right now. Notre Dame has to muscle up and win this game with brawn more than brain.
The concept is simple and one that Notre Dame certainly used last year when they dismantled an unbeaten Clemson team in November. However, this is also a Notre Dame team that averaged just 1.6 yards per carry at Louisville last week.
Don’t miss: Who wins? Notre Dame-USC staff predictions