It all starts with all-time ACC leading rusher and two-time conference Player of the Year Travis Etienne, who has recently been held more in check as a runner but has a knack of making one or two huge plays that can break open a game.

An example was the 2018 College Football Playoff semifinal win over Notre Dame (30-3). A bad defensive fit by the Irish on fourth-and-short led to his 62-yard touchdown burst that salted away the game in the second half. On his other 13 carries, he totaled only 47 yards.

Last week’s 34-28 victory versus Boston College was another example. The Eagles did fine work limiting him to 84 yards on 20 attempts (4.2 yards per carry) — but he did score the 17-yard go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter that made it 32-28. Far beyond that, Etienne grabbed seven passes for 140 yards against Boston College, and is a superb weapon in the run-pass option (RPO) game. His 29 receptions this year average 15.0 yards, an outstanding figure for a running back.

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly unequivocally calls the 5-10, 205-pound Etienne the best back in college football, and here’s a telling stat on why: Through seven games, Clemson does not have anyone else on the roster who has rushed for more than 87 yards (junior Lyn-J Dixon is at 87, but at only 3.1 yards per carry). In six games, Notre Dame has four different players who have rushed for at least 200 yards.

Still, Clemson’s top area of “reload” in 2020 was the offensive line, which has featured four new starters and will now face a veteran-dominated Notre Dame front.

The Irish reached the halfway point of the regular season ranked No. 4 nationally in rushing defense among teams who have played at least five times, allowing only 93.7 yards per outing — a vast improvement from 2019, when Notre Dame yielded 150.3 rushing yards per game and finished No. 60 nationally in that category.

The best performance by a Notre Dame rushing defense during the first 10 seasons under Kelly came in 2012, when his Irish surrendered just 105.69 yards per game.

Contributing to Notre Dame’s success in this category comes from getting its defense off the field. The Irish are ranked No. 2 in the country for third-down conversion defense (with at least four games played), allowing just a 24.4-percent success rate (19 of 78).

Advantage: Even