Notre Dame Football: Three Bold Predictions for the Irish against USC

Coming off of their best performance of the season, Notre Dame football is one win away from their first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

For USC, there’s not much left to play for. After being ranked 15th in the preseasons rankings, this year has been all downhill for the Trojans. Two bad losses in their first three games started to tell the story early. Stanford held the Trojans to 3 points in week two, and a week later Texas dismantled them 37-14.

Things haven’t been much better for the Trojans after losing four of their last five. At this point, there are only two things left to focus on. One, becoming bowl eligible; two, ruining Notre Dame’s season.

How likely is their chance of doing this? Well, right now things aren’t working in their favor.

The Irish are coming off of their best performance of the season, in a 36-3 victory over Syracuse. In reality, it wasn’t even that close.

If it were not for a questionable Syracuse field goal in the game’s final seconds, coupled with Notre Dame’s own redzone struggles, the game would have looked like even more of a blowout than it ultimately did.

While Notre Dame’s performance didn’t move them up in the College Football Playoff rankings, what it did was create a logical separation from Michigan and the rest of the field. It put to rest whether the teams currently ranked lower than the Irish should leapfrog them in the rankings.

Notre Dame was completely locked into the game plan last Saturday. It was difficult to determine which coordinator, Chip Long or Clark Lea, had a better game. It was a dominant performance from start to finish and if that’s what they bring into USC, the Trojans won’t stand a chance.

The one thing working in USC’s favor is the history they have of ruining a championship season for Notre Dame. That’s what their eyes are set on, as Notre Dame is one win away from their first appearance in the playoffs. Here are three bold predictions for Notre Dame at USC.