Louisville @ Notre Dame preview

It’s been a rough four-game stretch for Notre Dame, which played its way out of the College Football Playoff mix. Louisville, which visits the Fighting Irish on Saturday, finds itself at No. 24 in the playoff rankings but in third place in its own ACC division thanks to two losses in the last four games. The Cardinals are handing the quarterback job back to freshman Reggie Bonnafon after Will Gardner suffered a season-ending injury in the last game.

Notre Dame was flying high at 6-0 before falling just short at Florida State on Oct. 18 and is showing holes on defense of late while Everett Golson struggles with ball security. The Fighting Irish have allowed at least 30 points in each of the last five games and were embarrassed at home in a 43-40 overtime loss to Northwestern last week. Bonnafon, who threw two TDs and ran for another in relief against Boston College on Nov. 8, hopes to get some help from a Louisville defense holding opponents to an average of 17.8 points.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC. LINE: Notre Dame -3.5

ABOUT LOUISVILLE (7-3): Bonnafon played in parts of five games earlier in the season due to injuries and managed the game well enough to get some wins while being unspectacular. “He's a really, really good athlete," Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino told reporters of Bonnafon. "In those runs (against Boston College), he never got hit hard one time. … But he's also a good thrower. I think he can do a good job of, particularly, throwing the ball down the field." Bonnafon needed only five pass attempts to double his season total of passing TDs while rushing for 76 yards in the last game.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (7-3): The Fighting Irish defense continues to be put in tough positions by the offense, which has turned the ball over a total of 23 times in the last seven games. “Clearly, we've got to make sure that we're giving the ball to the right guy at the right time and doing the things that minimize risk,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly told reporters. “And so all those things are in the evaluation mode while still knowing at the end of the day we have to score a lot of points.” Golson is responsible for 19 of those turnovers and has thrown eight interceptions over the last four games.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The Notre Dame defense has recorded at least one interception in 13 straight games.

2. Cardinals S Gerod Holliman leads the nation with 13 interceptions.

3. Kelly needs one more win to become the first coach to begin his Fighting Irish career with five straight eight-win seasons.

PREDICTION: Notre Dame 28, Louisville 24