No. 18 Notre Dame will be on the road when it meets Stanford to finish its regular season on Saturday. The Irish are coming off last week's 45-7 victory over Wake Forest behind a stellar game by quarterback Sam Hartman, who threw four touchdown passes against his former team. Hartman had struggled in recent weeks but turned it on again in the win over the Demon Deacons.
As for Stanford, the Cardinal have struggled this season in Year 1 of the Troy Taylor era. They are coming off a 27-15 loss to rival Cal and appear to be heading toward another season of failing to win more than three games. Stanford finished 3-9 in consecutive seasons before former coach David Shaw stepped down from the program. With the Cardinal's season coming to an end in this one, it will mark the final game for Stanford as a Pac-12 member before heading off to the ACC in 2024.
How to watch Notre Dame vs. Stanford live
Date: Saturday, Nov. 25 | Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Stanford Stadium -- Stanford, California
TV: Pac-12 Network | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)
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Notre Dame vs. Stanford: Need to know
Hartman chasing history: Heading into the weekend, Hartman has 132 career touchdown passes, which ranks No. 4 all-time in FBS history. Hartman will have a chance to pass former Texas Tech star signal caller Graham Harrell on the leaderboard for third if he tosses three touchdowns against a lackluster Stanford defense. Hartman has fared well against unranked competition this season. He threw for 13 touchdowns during the first four games of the season against Navy, Tennessee State, NC State and Central Michigan.
Stanford's QB situation: When Taylor was the coach at FCS Sacramento State, he ran a two-quarterback system to perfection. He's taken a similar approach at Stanford this season by rotating Ashton Daniels and Justin Lamson at quarterback. Daniels is more of a passing threat, while Lamson offers a wrinkle to the system because of his ability as a runner. Playing multiple quarterbacks isn't super uncommon, but making a two-quarterback system your offensive philosophy is quite rare for a Power Five program like Stanford.
It all starts with Audric Estime: While Notre Dame's passing attack has struggled at times, the one constant has been Estime. He is coming off a strong performance against Wake Forest and recorded his fifth game with at least 100 yards rushing. Estime has rushed for 1,103 yards on the ground, which ranks No. 15 in the FBS. Stanford's defense is allowing nearly 144 yards per game and the key to a Notre Dame win will be establishing the run behind its star running back.
Notre Dame vs. Stanford prediction, picks
Odds via SportsLine consensus
This is the final game for Stanford as a member of the Pac-12, so chaos may be inevitable, even if this isn't a true Pac-12 After Dark Game. I'm not saying this will be an upset by any means because the spread currently favors Notre Dame by 26.5 points. Hartman is looking to move up the all-time touchdown leaderboard and Stanford's offense has shown at times this season it can be a competent unit. For those two reasons alone, the over in this game seems like the safe play. Pick: Over 51.5
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