Joel Klatt makes pick on USC at Notre Dame

One of college football’s great historic rivalries is going to be renewed this week when the USC Trojans travel to South Bend to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Ahead of that game, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt has shared his pick for the game.

On The Joel Klatt Show, he would break down the game and go on to pick a 4-2 Notre Dame team to take down a 5-1 USC team. At the same time, he expects it to be a close game and doesn’t expect Notre Dame to be able to cover the spread, which he had at 9.5 points.

“There is a big injury in this game,” Klatt said. “Notre Dame lost their starting center, Ashton Craig, for the season. Second straight year he’s going to be out for a length of time. USC’s run defense, I don’t think it’s great. I know that everyone is going to say they won the line of scrimmage against Michigan. Yes, that is true, but remember that game style and the way that it happened, and they couldn’t run the football because of the score. When they were running it, they were running it efficiently. So, I do think Notre Dame is going to be able to run the football.”

This season, Notre Dame is 50th in rushing offense, going for 172.67 yards per game on the ground. That’s with what is widely considered one of the best running back tandems in the game. USC, meanwhile, is 29th in rushing defense, giving up just 108.5 yards per game. This also comes a week after they held Michigan to 109 rushing yards, though the Wolverines lost Justice Haynes due to injury and were trying to throw to come from behind.

“Weather could be an issue. Fifty degrees and potentially some rain. I just don’t think Notre Dame is going to be able to run away from USC’s offense. I think this offense is too good. Again, No. 1 (in) yards per play offense in college football. So, while I like Notre Dame to win this game,” Klatt said. “I think it’s a high-scoring, one-score game, which has been commonplace for USC. I think Notre Dame wins this one 37-30, which means I’m taking the 9.5 for USC in this ballgame.”

This is a rivalry series that has been played annually since 1926, with the one exception of the 2020 season. Notre Dame leads the all-time series against USC 50-37-5. That includes wins in each of the last two seasons. However, as of now, the two don’t have any more games scheduled against one another.

Beyond bragging rights, Notre Dame needs the win. A loss would be its third, effectively eliminating the Irish from College Football Playoff contention. As for USC, a loss wouldn’t doom the Trojans, but would likely put their backs against the wall.