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Notre Dame football vs Cal: Irish players to watch in Week 3

By Brad Weiss

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 01: Quarterback Drew Pyne #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up before the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at State Farm Stadium on January 01, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cowboys defeated the Fighting Irish 37-35. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 01: Quarterback Drew Pyne #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up before the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at State Farm Stadium on January 01, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cowboys defeated the Fighting Irish 37-35. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame football team takes on Cal in Week 3, and here are three members of the Irish to keep an eye on in the matchup.

In Week 3, the Notre Dame football team will look to notch their first win of the season as the California Golden Bears come to town in a must-win game. After playing the Ohio State Buckeyes tough to open the season, the Irish looked downright bad against Marshall last weekend, as they were beaten in one of the more shocking outcomes on the slate.

Saturday, the Irish will need to bring their ‘A’ game against a Cal team that has a lot of confidence coming into the matchup. With Jack Plummer at the helm, the Golden Bears have gotten off to a 2-0 start, and based on what we saw from the Irish last weekend, this really is anybody’s game.

Here, we look at some Irish players to keep an eye on in this matchup.

Notre Dame football vs Cal: Irish players to watch in Week 3

Drew Pyne

In Week 3, the Notre Dame football team will turn to Drew Pyne, this after Tyler Buchner was lost for the season due to injury. Pyne and Buchner had been battling it out all summer for the starting job, so he is more than familiar with running with the ones, and now, the job is his the rest of the way.

The entire program is saying all of the right things about Pyne, but the truth is, he was beaten out by Buchner. He will have to prove that he is the right guy to lead this team the rest of the way, as he only has a true freshman behind him in Steve Angeli, a player who outplayed Pyne during the Blue-Gold Game this spring.

This is obviously a huge moment for Pyne.

Isaiah Foskey

It has been a pretty subpar year for Isaiah Foskey, who came into the 2022 season with his sights set on the school’s all-time sack record. In this one, he is likely to draw offensive tackle Ben Coleman, an Honorable Mention All-Pac 12 selection last year, and one of the best players on this Cal roster.

If this defense is going to turn it around, they need every bit of Foskey, who has been an absolute menace on that side of the ball for two years now. He has the size, speed, and strength to be a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but he will have to play much better across the next nine games to prove it.

Chris Tyree

The Notre Dame football team has been dreadful when it comes to running the football this season, something that has to change against Cal this weekend. The team has tried to work in all three of their backs, including Chris Tyree, who needs to step up in Week 3 and become the feature back for this program.

Kyren Williams was the ultimate feature back for the Irish, and replacing someone who had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons was never going to be easy. Notre Dame football has to establish the run game if they want to win on Saturday, and I believe it will be Tyree who brings some stability to the position.

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