No. 7 Notre Dame In Trouble vs. No. 20 Texas A&M? Paul Finebaum Believes So

Finebaum and Desmond Howard cite the rowdy Kyle Field crowd as a negative for the Fighting Irish as they travel to College Station for the season opener.

Oct 18, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Television and radio personality Paul Finebaum does a live report from SEC Media Day at the Omni Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports / Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

As college football gets back into full swing this weekend, the matchup to watch is without a doubt theNo. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish traveling to College Station to do battle with the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies inside Kyle Field, with a crowd of over 108,000 expected to fill the stands Saturday night.

According to Paul Finebaum, this could spell trouble for Notre Dame.

During his Friday appearance on Get Up, Finebaum explained how the Kyle Field crowd is not just any other college football crowd and could cause serious issues for the Irish.

"Notre Dame, they're a top 10 team, and I'm not just playing to a crowd a thousand miles from where I sit, because that's one of the fiercest environments in all of college football," Finebaum said. "I've seen average Texas A&M teams beat great teams, including Nick Saban two years ago. I think it could very well happen again tomorrow night."

Of course, Finebaum is referring to Texas A&M's miraculous last-second 41-38 victory over Nick Saban's then-top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in 2021.

Desmond Howard, the legendary return specialist, joined the show with Finebaum and also listed the crowd as the biggest factor for the contest, specifically the noise volume.

"The most important factor when you come to Kyle Field is, how can you handle crowd noise. I mean this is probably one of the top three loudest stadiums in all of college football," Howard said. "Notre Dame is coming in with two young offensive tackles. So, now you get concerned, are they guys going to have false starts? Are they going to be slow off the ball? They have a very mobile quarterback in Riley Leonard, but you know the Aggies are going to come after him for four quarters."

Many questions still remain in the air about both teams, and the only answers that can be provided are through the play on the field tomorrow night in Kyle Field.