Rece Davis takes USC to beat Notre Dame

Notre Dame will play their fourth consecutive Top-25 matchup when USC comes into South Bend this weekend. In a contest between two teams with struggles of their own, Rece Davis has a pretty clear choice in the end when it comes to who he thinks is going to win.

Davis picked between the No. 10 Trojans and No. 21 Fighting Irish on the ‘College GameDay Podcast’. He started with a nugget regarding USC’s recent run of bad luck in the series when they make the trip to Indiana.

“The Trojans haven’t won in South Bend since 2011,” Davis pointed out. “They’ve lost five in a row there, the longest active road losing streak against anybody.”

From there, Davis noted the desperation that he believes Notre Dame has at the moment. With little left on their slate after this brutal four-game stretch, he believes a 2-2 finish over this run would deflate what was once thought to be a potentially special season for the Irish.

“This is the test. Notre Dame’s season hangs in the balance right here. If they don’t win this game? Then the best Notre Dame can do is just have a pretty good season,” said Davis. “You still have a game against Clemson, most of the schedule is manageable. Nothing is going to get you terribly excited about what Notre Dame can accomplish the rest of the year. This is it.”

In the end, though, Davis does think that Notre Dame will come away with a loss against USC for the second straight year. No matter what they muster tomorrow night, he doesn’t think it’ll be enough considering Caleb Williams is the opposing quarterback on the other sideline.

“Notre Dame has to wake up every echo, they have to shake down every clap of thunder to try to save their season – and they’re not going to do it because 13 is on the other side,” said Davis. “I’m taking ‘SC.”

Notre Dame vs. USC: Picking Fighting Irish vs. Trojans

A great college football rivalry gets renewed on Saturday on a big stage. USC will travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame for what should be an intriguing matchup.

The Fighting Irish are the slight favorite at 2.5 points, according to FanDuel.

While it might make sense to pick Williams and USC at first glance, former LSU center T-Bob Hebert believes it makes sense to lean toward Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have an offense led by Sam Hartman and a physical defense that could give the Trojans headaches.

“My instinct at first was to just simply trust Caleb Williams because he is the best quarterback in college football and go USC,” Hebert told Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “But, then, I really started to think about it and really started to think – what happens to Lincoln Riley teams when they run into physical teams? And there is no doubt that Notre Dame is physical. It feels like when USC runs into Utah or something, right? And then the USC defense is so soft that I believe that Sam Hartman and this offense should have success.

“So like, yes, Caleb Williams is the best quarterback in the country. But I like Notre Dame in almost every other way. So, to me, this one feels pretty heavy Notre Dame and I’m taking the Irish to cover.”