The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are 9-2 and ranked #9 in the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll. While we will have to wait a bit longer to get this weeks College Football Playoff rankings, it’s safe to assume they
will remain #9. While that ranking could be a bit problematic for the next two setrs of CFP rankings, all the Irish can do is exceed the expectations put in front of them.
Last week, Notre Dame was a 35.5 point favorite over Syracuse and won the game 70-7 with the lone Syracuse touchdown coming at the end of the game with the backups of the backups out on the field for the Irish. We don’t expect a similar score this week, but we should maybe expect the same type of domination.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Notre Dame is a 32.5 point favorite with an over/under of 51.5.
It’s a bit of a weird game for Notre Dame with a 10:30 PM EST start, but Marcus Freeman has a plan.
“It’s gotta start with the mental approach and I’ve got to make sure the mental approach with this 7:30 Pacific kickoff time is Notre Dame time. That’s the first thing is the mindset we have to have. There’s also small adjustments that we’ll do probably towards the end of the week in terms of making sure physically our guys are ready at 7:30 when we’re out there. We’ve got a long flight out there, we know that. Saturday’s going to be a little bit different for the body. So, there’s little things we do as a sports performance staff to make sure we can help them be ready at 7:30. They’ve got to be ready to go. But to me, the No. 1 thing is the mental approach to it.”
