The 2022 regular-season finale is already upon in what has been anything but a normal fall in Marcus Freeman’s first season as Notre Dame’s head coach. It feels like it was maybe only a month ago that the Irish defense was putting in work at Ohio State before succumbing late in the contest. An all-time woeful loss to Marshall followed before a turnaround that featured three-straight wins, including a domination of a North Carolina team who will play in the ACC championship.
The stumble against Stanford happened in mid-October and right when the train could have really come off the track, the order was seemingly restored under Freeman’s watch. Notre Dame has won five straight since that loss, including controlling a ranked Syracuse team on the road handily and handing Clemson their worst regular season loss in what feels like a generation.
So how does Notre Dame close the book on the 2022 regular season? Can they find a way to slow USC’s high-powered offense and spoil a second opponent’s College Football Playoff dreams this November?
Here is how the Fighting Irish Wire staff as well as Trojans Wire editor Matt Zemek see Saturday night’s showdown in the Coliseum going.