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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish face the USC Trojans in prime time Saturday night in what may be the biggest game this rivalry has seen since 2012. Both teams are in the top 15, and the Irish come in rested following a bye week. Here are the depth charts for the match up.
Notre Dame Offensive Depth Chart VS Southern Cal
| WR | TE | LT | LG | C | RG | RT | WR | WR | RB | QB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WR | TE | LT | LG | C | RG | RT | WR | WR | RB | QB |
| Equanimeous St. Brown | Durham Smythe | Mike McGlinchey | Quenton Nelson | Sam Mustipher | Alex Bars | Tommy Kraemer | Cameron Smith | Chase Claypool | Josh Adams | Brandon Wimbush |
| Miles Boykin | Alize Mack | Liam Eichenberg | Joshua Lugg | Trevor Ruhland | Hunter Bivin | Robert Hainsey | Michael Young | Chris Finke | Dexter Williams | Ian Book |
| Nic Weishar | OR CJ Sanders | OR Tony Jones Jr. | Montgomery VanGorder | |||||||
| OR Brock Wright | OR Deon McIntosh | |||||||||
| OR Cole Kmet |
Quarterback Brandon Wimbush is expected to start after missing the North Carolina game with a foot sprain, per head coach Brian Kelly. At wide out, it appears that Chase Claypool is being rewarded for his dependability on the field, appearing above Chris Finke on the depth chart. Claypool only caught three passes against the Tar Heels in Notre Dame’s last game, but they came at critical times.
It’s also interesting that WR Kevin Stepherson’s name doesn’t appear anywhere on the depth chart. Coach Kelly stated in his presser that Stepherson had had a stellar bye week and is expected to be a greater part of the offense this week. Stepherson has one catch on the season, but showed the ability to be explosive in his freshman season last year.
Notre Dame Defensive Depth Chart VS Southern Cal
| CB | FS | ROVER | DE | DT | NG | DE | BUCK | MIKE | SS | CB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | FS | ROVER | DE | DT | NG | DE | BUCK | MIKE | SS | CB |
| Julian Love | Nick Coleman | Drue Tranquill | Daelin Hayes | Jonathan Bonner | Jerry Tillery | Jay Hayes | Greer Martini | Nyles Morgan | Jalen Elliott | Nick Watkins |
| Shaun Crawford | Isaiah Robertson | Asmar Bilal | OR Andrew Trumbetti | Myron Tagovailola-Amosa | Kurt Hinish | OR Andrew Trumbetti | OR Te'von Coney | Jamir Jones | Devin Studstill | Donte Vaughn |
| Troy Pride Jr. | Julian Okwara | Micah Dew-Treadway | Brandon Tiassum | Khalid Kareem | ||||||
| Ade Ogundeji |
The defensive depth chart is unchanged. It will be interesting to see how many snaps (if any) Greer Martini gets on Saturday. The linebacker is currently “day-to-day” with a knee injury.
Notre Dame Special Teams Depth Chart VS Southern Cal
| KO | PK | P | LS | HOLDER | PR | KR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KO | PK | P | LS | HOLDER | PR | KR |
| Justin Yoon | Justin Yoon | Tyler Newsome | John Shannon | Motgomery VanGorder | Chris Finke | CJ Sanders |
| Jonathan Doerer | Jonathan Doerer | Jeff Riney | Nic Weishar | Tyler Newsome | CJ Sanders | Michael Young |
Freshman Michael Young takes over for Tony Jones Jr. on kick return duty this week. He’ll be alongside CJ Sanders in a move that presumably was made due to the fact that Notre Dame’s running back committee now goes four-deep. Apparently when Jones is needed in the backfield, as he has been, he gets a break from kickoff return duties.
Despite being dependable, the Notre Dame special teams unit hasn’t provided any explosive plays. We’ll see if that changes on Saturday.