The Irish, having dropped to 6th in the latest College Football Playoff rankings after yet another unimpressive showing against an atrocious opponent, enter the contest with a 10-1 record and a need to not only beat the Cardinal, but to look great doing it and also receive some help from favorable upsets in the Big 12 and Big 10.
Stanford, meanwhile, enters the game ranked 9th at 9-2, looking to finish a strong season with a win as they then head to the Pac-12 championship game in search of their 3rd conference title in 4 years.
The Cardinal will be slight favorites in the game, and one of the biggest reasons for that is certainly RB Christian McCaffrey.