Written by Cade Harper｜Contributor｜Twitter/X: @CadeHarperIT
Photo by Notre Dame Athletics
Last week's picks for the Louisville game were almost 100% correct! Let's do it again this week as we take a look at the best plays, some bold predictions, and my picks to avoid using different variety of sports books so you get the best value!
Photo by Sports Illustrated
Starting out with my favorite lines, the spread. Notre Dame is actually favored by -2.5 with an over/under set at 60 for -110 per DraftKings/FanDuel. A couple of things to note of before you start thinking about putting a moneyline in here. USC has not won a single game on the road in South Bend in over 10 years. The last time was almost 12 years ago exactly, on October 22, 2011. Make of it what you will, but just know, we never bet against the Irish here no matter what that line looks like. Irish are also coming off a tough loss on the road, now back home, under the lights, former alumni in attendance, the atmosphere will be electric all day on campus I can imagine.
Photo by Sports Illustrated
Now onto my favorite plays for this weekends primetime ranked matchup. One thing you should know, if you don't know by now, this weekend's weather is going to be peak football weather. We are looking at a high of just 53 degrees with some decently heavy winds. Now all of the rain is supposed to be gone before kickoff so we will see, but as you can see, the University of Southern California is not used to that. Hopefully the Irish can take advantage of this amazing football weather and come out on top, covering that 2.5 spread. With that being said, due to the conditions, I'm going to take the under 60 here. Now for player props, for my bold picks of the week - I'm taking Estime at an anytime touchdown scorer again. Now he didn't last week, but given the conditions, I think Parker hears the fans and Notre Dame pounds the ball this weekend. If you're feeling frisky, go ahead and put Estime down for 2+ touchdowns this weekend, I'd love to see him have a phenomenal game this weekend after struggling. For the second bold pick, given the conditions I want to say Heisman winner Caleb Williams will not play as well as he normally does. Notre Dame's defense has started to lack a little here and there, and now they play the toughest offense they have yet. Williams' line is set at 290.5 pass yards, and 2.5 Touchdowns. I'm going to avoid the 290 yards here, as I feel a little sketchy about that line as a whole. However, I also do not think Caleb passes for at least 3 touchdowns, so I will take Williams under 2.5 passing touchdowns. Another pick I want to avoid is Estime's yards, which is set at 96 rushing yards. I will take the under here, one, because of Parker's playcalling, two, Estime has not hit this line since Notre Dame played Central Michigan. Nothing crazy this week but it's time to make some predictions. I would love to see the defense just shut down the former Heisman winner and take this one, it will not be easy by any means, but I do think they do. I'm taking the Irish here in a medium-low scoring classic 24-20. It's one of the best and most anticipated weeks of the season, let's have one! Go Irish! Beat Southern Cal!
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