Marcus Freeman addresses game plan, challenge Caleb Williams poses

The biggest worry for Notre Dame heading into Saturday’s matchup against USC will be attempting to slow Caleb Williams down.

That’s obviously easier said than done, but Irish head coach Marcus Freeman is preparing his team to take the game one play at a time.

“You can watch a lot of film and see that not a lot of defenses can slow [Caleb Williams] down,” Freeman told former USC quarterback Matt Leinart on Big Noon Kickoff. “The reality is, you have to play this play. We’re going to do some things defensively to try and continue to keep him off rhythm, but you can’t even say that this one thing could slow him down. We’re going to play this play and no matter what happens, we’re going to have to play the next one.”

Coming into Saturday, Williams ranks in the top-10 in passing yards (1,822) and No. 1 in passing touchdowns (22) to make USC the nation’s highest-scoring offense, averaging 51.8 points per game.

In addition to his 22 passing touchdowns, Williams also has six rushing touchdowns to give him 28 touchdowns responsible for this season as he engineers USC’s high-powered offense. He also has the second-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy behind Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., which would be Williams’ second in two years if he remains on the pace he’s on.

It is almost academic that Williams will make his fair share of plays throughout the game — but his defense has long thought to be the kryptonite that will eventually lead to the fall of the Trojans. Could Notre Dame’s offense expose the USC defensive unit the way Arizona and Colorado have over the past two weeks.

Over the past three weeks, the Irish are 1-2 against Ohio State, Duke and Louisville. During that stretch, the Irish have averaged 18.3 points per game. Before the last three matchup — Notre Dame was right up there with USC as one of the most potent offenses in the country. During the first four weeks of the season, Notre Dame scored at least 41 points in every game and winning each matchup by at least three scores. That has turned around rather quickly since seeing an uptick in opponent quality.

Saturday’s opening kickoff between the Irish and Trojans is set for 7:30 p.m. ET live on NBC. Notre Dame is a three-point betting favorite over USC at home, according to Vegas Insider. The over/under total is set at 60.5.