Notre Dame-USC Week 13 College Football Odds, Lines, Spread and Bet

The Fighting Irish are getting 5.5 points on the road as they look to knock the Trojans out of the College Football Playoff picture.

Pat Forde | Nov 23, 2022

In this story:

USC took a big step toward the College Football Playoff by beating UCLA last week, but the competition rises another level this week with a resurgent Notre Dame coming to the Coliseum. The Trojans have an explosive offense but the Fighting Irish have been a top 10 defense nationally in the month of November in terms of yards allowed.

Notre Dame vs. USC Odds

Notre Dame Straight-Up Record: 8-3
Notre Dame Against the Spread Record: 6-5

USC Straight-Up Record: 10-1
USC Against the Spread Record: 7-4

Bet on Notre Dame-USC at SI Sportsbook

Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer — USC has been susceptible to tight ends, and Notre Dame has one of the nation’s best in Michael Mayer :: Michael Caterina/USA Today Sports

The key issue for USC is whether its leaky defense can get some stops. UCLA scored 45 points on the Trojans last week in a losing cause, and Utah put 43 on them in October. That game could be instructive here, because the key for the Utes was tight end Dalton Kincaid, who lit up USC for 243 receiving yards on 16 catches. Lo and behold, Notre Dame has a tight end at least as gifted in Michael Mayer (59 catches, seven touchdowns). Between Mayer and a power running attack, the Irish could wear down a weak USC defense as the game goes along.

BET: Notre Dame +5.5

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Published Nov 23, 2022

PAT FORDE

Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who covers college football and college basketball as well as the Olympics and horse racing. He cohosts the College Football Enquirer podcast and is a football analyst on the Big Ten Network. He previously worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Forde has won 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and member of the Football Writers Association of America, he lives in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers.