Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Notre Dame by 6.5.

—With Louisville’s defense coming off its best performance of the season, C.L. Brown writes that the Cardinals are becoming a complete team at the right time.

—Expect the atmosphere inside L&N Stadium Saturday night to be “bonkers.”

—Andrea agrees.

—Pitt is moving sixth-year senior Phil Jurkovec from quarterback to tight end. The Cards will visit the Panthers a week from tomorrow.

—On3 ranks Jamari Thrash as the 21st-best wide receiver in college football so far this season.

—All four of The Athletic’s college football writers like Notre Dame to both win and cover the spread Saturday night.

—Each member of the One Foot Down staff also likes the Irish to take care of business.

Jack Plummer is a below mid quarterback, and while I like Louisville running back, Jawhar Jordan, I don’t think the Cardinal rushing attack is good enough to take the pressure off of Plummer. The Irish will likely be a bit tired and maybe even emotionally spent, but the matchups in this game all go in Notre Dame’s favor. Sam Hartman is a much better QB than Plummer, and Notre Dame’s ability to run the ball and stop the run on defense will make all the difference.

Notre Dame 41, Louisville 17

—Marcus Freeman spent some time with the South Bend media on Thursday.

—Louisville will host four-star junior EJ Walker for an unofficial visit on Monday.

—College Football HQ likes Notre Dame over the Cards by a touchdown.

—Nolan Smith will be doing a meet and greet in NuLu on Sunday.

—Sports Illustrated not even including Louisville-Notre Dame in its games of the week post is lame.

—Western Kentucky held off a late charge from Louisiana Tech for a 35-28 road win Thursday night.

—Apparently Mrs. CC’s alma mater is home to a 5-star hooper.

I’m on it.

—The latest episode of the From the Pink Seats podcast previews the Notre Dame game with Irish slayer Reggie Bonnafon.

—Andy Staples of On3 likes Louisville to cover the 6.5 against Notre Dame.

—The Savannah Bananas are coming to Slugger Field next August.

—Burner Ball has Tre White as one of college basketball’s five best under the radar transfers.

Tre White (Louisville)

Louisville landed one of the better pickups of the off-season with USC transfer Tre White. White fits very firmly in the “big guard” category. He handles the ball well and has the potential to become a true three-level scorer. He’s got the size and length to play multiple positions and is good enough defensively to switch one-thru-four. White could very easily be the best player on this team. It’s unclear how good Louisville will be this season, but White will have a big say in that at the end of the day.

—Rick Bozich and Eric Crawford discuss the big local weekend ahead in the latest episode of their podcast.

—UNC wide receiver Tez Walker is now eligible after “new information” came to light. The NCAA and UNC are still beefing, though.

—It’s a big weekend for the Cards, and businesses and hotels around town are in a frenzy as fans from across the country pour into town for the game.

—Someone send this trick down 3rd street.

—You can check out what both teams are wearing for tomorrow night’s game here.

—The Louisville women’s soccer team fell to No. 2 Florida State, 2-0, Thursday night.

—Last Word on Sports says the Fighting Irish need to make a statement against Louisville.

—I enjoy Joh Pate’s take on tomorrow night’s game.

—U of L men’s tennis senior Etienne Donnet has advanced into the Round of 16 at the ITA All-American Championships.

—Stewart Mandel and Bruce Feldman of The Athletic are both picking Notre Dame by more than a touchdown.

—Every writer over at Fighting Irish Wire likes Notre Dame over Louisville, and all but one says the Irish are winning by multiple touchdowns.

Michael Chen (6-0)

Although Louisville enters this game as an undefeated ranked team, they’re not quite as good as their status suggests. The Irish know all about Jack Plummer, their best receiver, Jamari Thrash, transferred in from Georgia State, shouldn’t be much of a challenge for the Notre Dame defense. It’s on offense that I have a few concerns, but getting healthy out wide will help Sam Hartman a good amount. As long as the Irish can score over 28, they should win fairly easily and I think they do.

Notre Dame 38, Louisville 17

Jeff Feyerer (5-1):

While this game against Jeff Brohm and the Cardinals appears to be another tough matchup for the Irish, they pale in comparison to the Ohio State and Duke squads they’ve played the last two weeks. Louisville’s schedule has been light to far, thus the impressive raw numbers they’ve put up (one of only 8 teams in the nation in the top 25 of points scored per game and points allowed per game) hardly resonate in my mind. They’ve seen quarterback Jack Plummer before at Purdue so no surprises there and while running back Jahwar Jordan is a load (ACC leader in rushing yards), I expect the Irish defense to rise to the challenge. And after a few statistically below average games from Sam Hartman, my expectation is that he’ll get back on track. It’s nice to have a Notre Dame squad to still feel confident after a loss and an almost letdown. Let’s hope they continue to give us reasons to believe.

Notre Dame 37, Louisville 17

—The Louisville Cardinal previews U of L-Notre Dame.

—Never a bad time to re-watch this:

—Saturday Blitz has three reasons why Louisville can spring the upset.

—NGSC Sports has some ACC football news and notes.

—Max Chadwick of Pro Football Focus is predicting a 31-24 Notre Dame win.

—In keeping with a theme of the week, the Irish Illustrated staff all like Notre Dame, and most of them like Notre Dame big.

TOM LOY

Sam Hartman seems like the type of player that, when an opponent gets the best of him, he bounces back in a big, big way. Last year, while playing quarterback at Wake Forest, Louisville got the best of him, and that may be an understatement. It was a very poor performance by the veteran signal-caller.

But now it’s a year later, in a new system and surrounded by new teammates. I expect Hartman to play much, much better and play a key role in Notre Dame’s success against Louisville Saturday night. It also doesn’t hurt that Jayden Thomas and Jaden Greathouse are returning to the field to suit up for the Fighting Irish and catch passes for him.

The receivers are going to look much different this weekend compared to last weekend in Durham. That a good things, Notre Dame fans. I expect great things from the Fighting Irish offense and believe the last-second win over Duke is going to prove to be a turning point for this year’s Notre Dame team. Buckle up, Irish fans. There is a chance this season could still be very special in South Bend. Notre Dame, big.

Notre Dame 38 Louisville 20

—Matt McGavic of Louisville Report looks at the points of emphasis for the Notre Dame game.

—The Notre Dame student newspaper lays out some keys to victory for the Irish.

—And finally, beat Notre Dame.