No. 10 Notre Dame is well-accustomed to prime-time games attracting the nation's attention this season and that trend continues in Week 6 as the Fighting Irish face No. 25 Louisville to continue their impressive run of clashes against ranked opponents. The Cardinals caught the eye of AP Top 25 voters after jumping out to their first 5-0 start since 2013, which already marks a successful beginning to the Jeff Brohm era in Louisville. Saturday night's showdown will surely be a measuring stick for the team and the program as a whole.
The Fighting Irish should be accustomed to centerstage after hosting Ohio State at home in a narrow loss and then defeating a ranked Duke team in a narrow win. With USC coming up next week, this matchup is just another in a series of games that will define the 2023 season.
Louisville has gotten plenty of airtime with Friday night games against Georgia Tech and NC State, but this will be the first glimpse of the Cardinals for a good chunk of the country. Those stakes should make for a terrific atmosphere in L&N Stadium on Saturday night, with the question being whether the home crowd can play a role in the outcome of this ranked-on-ranked battle.
How to watch Notre Dame vs. Louisville live
Date: Saturday, October 7 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: L&N Stadium -- Louisville, Kentucky
TV: ABC | Live stream: fubo (Try for free)
Notre Dame vs. Louisville: Need to know
Notre Dame has dominated ACC opponents: The Fighting Irish began a football scheduling agreement with the ACC in 2014 and have held the upper hand for much of that relationship. Notre Dame is 42-7 against ACC opponents since the scheduling agreement began, including a run of 30 consecutive wins in regular season games against ACC foes since the start of the 2017 season. Louisville has to avoid the familiar narrative associated with this winning streak, which is getting bullied by a dominant Notre Dame team in the trenches and falling short in key moments late in the game.
Louisville has benefited from fast starts: One advantage the Cardinals have been able to ride in their path to 5-0 has been early leads. Louisville has held opponents scoreless in the first quarter of every game this season, outscoring foes 34-0 in that time. Notre Dame undoubtedly represents the toughest competition on Louisville's schedule so far, but the Fighting Irish should be prepared for a fast start from the Cardinals.
Sam Hartman continues to set records: It's not enough that Sam Hartman shredded the ACC record book during his time at Wake Forest. Now he's etching his name in the history of Notre Dame football. Hartman has started the year with 145 pass attempts and no interceptions, the longest streak to start a season and fourth-longest streak in Fighting Irish history. In total, Hartman has thrown 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions which leads all FBS quarterbacks. He also leads active FBS quarterbacks with 124 career passing touchdowns.
Notre Dame vs. Louisville prediction, picks
Odds via SportsLine consensus
I'm upgrading Notre Dame's passing game as the Fighting Irish are expected to get Jaden Greathouse and Jayden Thomas back from injury after they missed last week's narrow win at Duke. Louisville's offense already has high-end potential, especially with Brohm dialing up plays. Notre Dame's defense is obviously one of the best in the country, but this is its third straight prime time game. The Irish could give up enough explosive plays to get us to the over. Pick: Over 54
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