Notre Dame Football: Toughest Game of 2015

The 2015 Notre Dame Football schedule looks vastly different than in the past, but one of the biggest and toughest games will come against a regular Fighting Irish rival. October 17th against USC has potential to be the most important game for the Irish in this upcoming season.

USC could be a preseason top 10 team and I don’t expect that ranking to drop before they come to South Bend. USC will have to get through what looks to be a very decent Arizona State team first, but there is a great possibility that the Trojans could be going into this game 5-0.

This is going to be a very through USC team. Much like the Irish, USC is going to be running an up-tempo offence. USC will rely on their run game from Javorius Allen and Tre Madden to help open up the passing game. Once this happens, QB Cody Kessler will be able to make his favorite target, Nelson Agholor, a deadly weapon.

On the other side of the ball, USC has two players that everyone is going to want to keep an eye on, at linebacker Su’a Cravens and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Don’t expect this to be the same USC defense that was ranked 116th in the nation for pass defense as the Trojans looked to have filled the gaps.

And of course there are probably plenty of Notre Dame fans that would like to sit here and say, “Who cares about USC’s talent? We’re the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame!” And I believe Notre Dame is going to be a better team than USC, but the schedule is going to be tough to overcome.

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Two weeks before the ND/USC game takes place, the Irish will have to take on a very good Clemson team led by a Heisman hopeful Deshaun Watson.

After that tough match up against the Tigers, ND will face Navy. A game that the Irish can normally always chalk up as a W, but never looks forward to playing. Navy plays that stinkin’ triple option that more than anything just frustrates their opponents. It’s difficult to walk away from a game against Navy where no one is injured or completely run down.

This Notre Dame team is going to have to be extremely strong, well condition, and mentally prepared to be able to play Clemson and Navy back to back then prepare to take on the Trojans.