Notre Dame Football: 3 games to pay attention to this weekend

It’s an early cheeseburger week for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish which means we get a weekend of glorious college football without any of the stress (or work). Obviously a lot of people like to take the weekend off so their family members don’t disown them entirely — but I’m not those people (and you probably aren’t either).

While there are a large handful of games coming up that I’m excited to watch, here are three that should be required viewing for all of us.

Thursday @ 8:00 PM BYU Cougars VS Utah State Aggies

Next up for the Irish are the BYU Cougars in Las Vegas, but before the Fighting Mormons can get there, they have an in-state battle in Provo. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, BYU is a 25 point favorite over Utah State — but that matters less to me than just one last chance to see them before Drew Pyne carves them up.

Saturday @ 12:00 PM Iowa Hawkeyes VS Michigan Wolverines

This game has no real impact on Notre Dame or its season, but Jim Harbaugh has never won a game at Kinnick Stadium in his career as a player or as a coach. Can the Hawkeyes muster enough offense to avenge the Big 10 Championship embarrassment? Probably not... but that doesn’t mean they have to lose, and we can all laugh at those bastards from Ann Arbor.

Saturday @ 7:30 PM NC State Wolfpack VS Clemson Tigers

There’s a giant red circle on Notre Dame’s schedule when Clemson comes back to South Bend, but that’s still over a month away. For narrative purposes and a variety of other reasons, Irish fans should want Clemson to be undefeated — but no one will be mad if the #10 Wolfpack pull off a win over the favored Tigers ( -6.5).

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.