College football 2018: 15 best non-conference games to watch this year

College football’s 15 most compelling non-conference games to watch in 2018

SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 21: The USC Trojans face off at the line of scrimmage against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during a game at Notre Dame Stadium on October 21, 2017 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame won 49-14. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

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SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 21: The USC Trojans face off at the line of scrimmage against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during a game at Notre Dame Stadium on October 21, 2017 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame won 49-14. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

4. Notre Dame vs. USC (Nov. 24)

Yes, Notre Dame makes yet another appearance on this list, and it won’t be the last. The Fighting Irish will close their 2018 regular season in Los Angeles with a tough matchup against USC.

Could this be for a playoff berth? For the Irish, they’ll have to likely be 10-1 or 11-0 at the time of this contest to be even considered for the postseason since they’re not tied to a conference, but the Trojans could surprise everyone and win the Pac-12 South and take down a team like Washington in the conference title game. They’ll need to win this one, though.

In case, you haven’t been keeping up with key departures around college football, USC has had plenty of them. Not only are the Trojans down their top wide receiver from a year ago, but also their top running back and all-everything quarterback.

Sam Darnold is gone, passing the torch to (likely) a true freshman in JT Daniels. He’s highly-touted and will have seen plenty of action leading up to this game, so don’t expect him to fold on the big stage when the lights are the brightest.

Notre Dame and USC have an incredible rivalry and this season will feature a fairly even matchup.