Notre Dame’s playoff path runs through its rivalry with USC. Joel Klatt called the Week 8 matchup the Fighting Irish’s toughest remaining test of the 2025 season, a game with major playoff implications.

The No. 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish need help from their arch-rival to help make a case for the College Football Playoff.

Joel Klatt revealed the 10 games that will shape the rest of the season. He analyzed why the USC Trojans vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish game will shape both teams’ seasons. Notre Dame will face a difficult test against USC after two losses to save their playoff hopes.

Admittedly, the downstream implications of USC’s loss to Illinois — from the direct impact on Notre Dame to the indirect effect on all the bowl-eligible teams affiliated with the Pac-12 games — are difficult to pinpoint at the moment. But by December, that single result could loom large over the postseason landscape.

There are a lot of college football fans that declared Notre Dame's aspirations to avenge its 2025 national championship heartbreak dead after Week 2. The Fighting Irish lost both of their opening games to Miami and Texas A&M, yet clung to a Top 25 ranking throughout their winless start.

Notre Dame football is building momentum with two straight wins where the offense has looked awesome and the defense has taken small improvement steps.

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said he believes the upcoming game is a sellout because of Michigan and its large fan base.

Notre Dame football is getting immense value with head coach Marcus Freeman’s contract, as he currently isn’t in the top-25 highest paid in the sport.

It's nearly an impossible task, but our list of the 25 best Notre Dame football moments of the last 25 years has reached its fourth installment.

The USC Trojans are in for a highly-anticipated week 7 home matchup with No. 15 Michigan, slated for primetime 4:30 p.m. PT on NBC.  Since week 1, the Trojans h