Kickoff: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Line: USC -7, Total: 62.5

Two of college football’s elite programs, Notre Dame and USC Trojans, meet in a late-season battle on Saturday afternoon to wrap up underachieving regular seasons.

The Irish kicked off the season with some tremendous play as they won their first six games SU while going 4-2 ATS. Since that time, they’ve fallen apart and have just one victory in their past five tries (1-4 ATS) while losing three of their contests by four or fewer points. Last week they lost to 2.5-point underdog Louisville at home by a score of 31-28. Notre Dame was held scoreless over the past 14:55 to secure the win. The Trojans have spread out their losses and are 6-5 ATS on the season. They took on UCLA last week in what was supposed to be a close game, as the spread was 3.5 points in favor of the host Bruins, but UCLA had other plans as it blew out USC by a score of 38-20. The Trojans managed just 276 yards of total offense in the contest while each team turned the ball over twice. The Fighting Irish have come away with victories in this matchup each of the past two seasons (both SU and ATS) while winning by an average of 6.5 PPG. Last year they beat the Trojans 14-10 at home as two-point favorites in a defensive struggle where the two programs combined to put up a mere 625 yards of offense. Overall since 1992, USC is 6-4-1 SU (6-5 ATS) when playing hosting in this series, but has lost in each of the past two meetings in Los Angeles. Bettors should keep an eye on the fact that Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is 27-13 ATS (68%) as an underdog in his coaching career, while the Trojans are a perfect 7-0 ATS after an SU loss over the past two seasons. As far as injuries are concerned, the Irish will be without star LB Joe Schmidt (ankle) for the rest of the season and will likely be without the services of DL Sheldon Day (hip) who is listed as doubtful. Meanwhile, USC is concerned about RB Tre Madden, who is questionable with a toe injury.

Which school will win its eighth game of the season on Saturday? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and bowl season. StatFox Gary is heating up with a 6-1 ATS mark in College Football Best Bets over the past two weeks.

Despite its recent struggles, Notre Dame has still put forth one of the better passing offenses in the nation as it is gaining 298.2 YPG through the air (16th in FBS) while adding 155.1 rushing YPG and has scored 34.7 PPG (34th in nation). QB Everett Golson (3,280 pass yards, 29 TD, 13 INT) has really struggled with turnovers, by tossing at least one pick in each of his past eight games, but has also thrown for over 300 yards in five different games this season. He can also get the job done with his legs, as he has rushed for 291 yards (2.6 YPC) and 8 TD this year. HB Tarean Folston (802 rush yards, 5 TD) joins Golson in the backfield and has provided the Irish with solid performances lately as he has gone over 100 yards in four of the past five games, while averaging 107.8 YPG in that time. WR William Fuller (962 rec yards, 14 TD) has been one of the best red-zone threats in the country and has caught at least one touchdown pass in all but one game this season. He’s had two of his best performances in the past two weeks as he has averaged 139 YPG with four total touchdowns. The defense started the year out allowing a mere 12.0 PPG over the first five games, but has since given up 40.3 PPG and currently ranks 73rd in the nation in scoring defense (27.5 PPG). The loss of LB Joe Schmidt (65 tackles, 2 INT) does not help, as LB Jaylon Smith (88 tackles, 2 sacks) takes over the leadership role on this side of the ball.

The Trojans have had some big weeks offensively and currently rank 20th in FBS with 287.5 passing YPG while going for 153.9 YPG on the ground with 33.8 PPG (36th in nation). QB Cody Kessler (3,133 pass yards, 30 TD, 4 INT) has been phenomenal while hitting on 70% of his passes for 8.4 YPA and has thrown 19 TD with 3 INT over his past five games. He did not play very well against the Bruins last week though, and was 22-for-34 (65%) with 214 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. HB Javorius Allen (1,244 rush yards, 9 TD) is a workhorse who has attempted 21 rushes per game while averaging 5.4 YPC. He has hit the century mark in yards eight times on the year, but has gone for just 60 YPG (3.4 YPC) in the past two contests. WR Nelson Agholor (1,103 rec yards, 10 TD) had a meager three catches for 24 yards last week in the loss to UCLA, but was tremendous in the previous four contests, averaging 168.5 receiving YPG and scored six touchdowns. Their defense has been decent while giving up 24.6 PPG behind the efforts of LB Hayes Pullard (84 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 1 INT), DL Leonard Williams (66 tackles, 6 sacks, 1 INT) and DB Su’a Cravens (56 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 INT, 1 TD).