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

The top national storyline in this contest is the absence of Clemson junior quarterback Trevor Lawrence because of testing positive for COVID-19. As a freshman two years ago while leading Clemson to the national title, the future first-round pick hit Notre Dame with 27-of-39 passing for 327 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 30-3 Clemson rout.

His replacement is 6-4, 250-pound freshman D.J. Uiagalelei — who like Lawrence was a five-star recruit and the nation’s top quarterback prospect in his class. In his first career start, against Boston College last week, Uiagalelei completed 30 of 41 throws for 342 yards with two touchdowns and added a 30-yard rushing score off the zone read in the Tigers’ 34-28 comeback win.

He demonstrated remarkable poise when his team fell behind 28-10 and did not make a crucial mistake in the comeback effort that could have scuttled the rally. He did show a much better aptitude throwing to his right than left, though. The likely game plan is to foremost take away Etienne and put the game in the freshman’s hands.

“The most important thing is to make sure he’s not comfortable back there,” Kelly said. “You’ve got to get a great pass rush, you’ve got to get him to move his feet, you have to make sure they don’t get into a rhythm, which is really the case for a lot of quarterbacks.

“Whether [he's] a freshman or a senior … you don’t want a quarterback to feel comfortable. Don’t let him get into a rhythm and the easy throws.”

Nine different Clemson pass catchers had a touchdown grab through six games, but Etienne out of the backfield and senior wide receiver Amari Rodgers (40 catches for 586 yards, 14.7 yards per catch and six touchdowns) have been the favorite targets.

With junior Braden Galloway (16 grabs for 184 yards and two touchdowns) and sophomore Davis Allen (nine catches for 174 yards and three scores), the Tigers also feature a deep and talented stable of tight ends in the same way Notre Dame does. Another common similarity with Notre Dame is the receiving corps has been banged up, with Frank Ladson Jr. and Joseph Ngata either out or limited versus BC.

While the Tigers still have plenty of talent, the sheer explosiveness displayed by Tee Higgins (now in the NFL) and Justyn Ross (sidelined in the offseason because of a neck problem) — both of who scorched the Irish two years ago — is not as evident.

For the Irish, their solid work against the run has been complemented by a notable improvement in pass defense.

Limiting long-yardage downfield plays remains a strength for Notre Dame, which has hovered near or inside the top 10 nationally most of this season in all the major categories. This includes a No. 3 ranking nationally in pass efficiency defense among teams that have played at least five games. That can be further buoyed by a strong pass rush that was led last week by fifth-year senior defensive end Daelin Hayes in last week’s 31-13 win at Georgia Tech.

If Lawrence had been available, the advantage would have been given to Clemson because of his experience. Uiagalelei making his first career start on the road against a stout, veteran Irish defense helps level the field some.

Advantage: Even

Notre Dame’s run-reliant identity so far best suits the 2020 personnel, and proof has been in the production with 231.0 rushing yards per game, among the best in the country. Through six games, sophomore Kyren Williams led the Irish with 600 yards and 105 carries, which both rank near the top of the ACC — while junior tailback C’Bo Flemister, freshman Chris Tyree and fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book provide ground game reinforcements.

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables, arguably the best assistant coach in the business, again features an embarrassment of future NFL riches along his front four, only two years removed from putting three defensive linemen among the first 17 picks of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Fifth-year senior linebacker Baylon Spector, who rarely leaves the field, has paced the Tigers in total tackles (39) and was second in tackles for loss (6.5) through seven contests this season. To further illustrate Clemson’s defensive depth and talent, the Tigers had 13 different players record multiple tackles for loss to rank among the top five nationally as a team in that category.

However, Clemson middle linebacker James Skalski (groin) is very likely out against Notre Dame, and the status of strong-side linebacker Mike Jones Jr. and defensive tackle Tyler Davis, an anchor in the interior, is uncertain after having been sidelined against Boston College. End Xavier Thomas also will miss the first half after a second-half targeting infraction versus BC.

The Tigers possess two top-five, five-star freshmen up front in end Myles Murphy and tackle Bryan Bresee and they've combined for 6.5 sacks. However, they won't be going against a novice Notre Dame offensive line either.

Advantage: Even

This remains a work in progress for Book and the Irish pass catchers.

The upside is that Irish junior Tommy Tremble and freshman Michael Mayer have been valuable tight end targets for Book this season, combining for 27 catches, 294 receiving yards and two scores. As the health of the Irish wide receivers improves — and Book’s comfort level with that unit follows — Kelly believes his passing game will evolve into more than a dink-and-dunk outfit.

That said, if Notre Dame wants to hang with Clemson this weekend, it needs immediate impact from its passing game, not just another step to gradual improvement.

No Irish wide receiver managed 10 total catches through the first five games, and the absence the rest of the year of Kevin Austin Jr. (foot surgery) and junior speedster Braden Lenzy (hamstring issues) further limits the arsenal. At Georgia Tech last weekend, fifth-year senior Javon McKinley did have his second five-catch game of the season that totaled 93 yards, but can he now put together back-to-back productive contests?

Often facing a three-man rush, Boston College's Phil Jurkovec shredded Clemson's defense in the first half last week, but the Eagles produced zero points in the second half. Senior safety Nolan Turner (three interceptions) leads the Clemson secondary. Its most impressive performance was limiting Miami’s D'Eriq King to 12-of-28 passing for 121 yards with two interceptions in the 42-10 blowout win on Oct. 10 in which the Hurricanes failed to score a touchdown on offense.

Advantage: Clemson

The highlight for Notre Dame through six games was recording two touchdowns off blocked punts. The Irish kicking, punting and kick return games remain adequate, not spectacular.

Clemson junior kicker B.T. Potter has had a relatively average field goal percentage most of his career, which was hurt by having three blocked in the 42-10 loss to Miami on Oct. 10 — one of which was returned for a touchdown on the last play of the first half. But he possesses a superb leg, and his 50-yard field goal right before halftime last week versus Boston College to cut the deficit to 28-13 provided a huge momentum boost going into the locker room.

Clemson senior punter Will Spiers has averaged 47.7 yards per attempt this season, putting him among the ACC leaders.

Advantage: Notre Dame

Kelly enters this game riding a 22-game home winning streak, but none of those previous opponents compare to Clemson in what will be a defining and challenging matchup.

In 10 seasons at Notre Dame, Kelly is 3-8 versus top-10 teams and 0-5 against top-five units, losing those five games by an average score of 31-15.

In his 13th season at Clemson, head coach Dabo Swinney has cemented his place among the college coaching elite. Swinney holds the postseason hardware that Kelly is vying to secure.

From an experience standpoint, first-year Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will face his greatest challenge while going against the highly esteemed Venables, who has been a defensive coordinator 21 years and won national titles at two different schools while serving in that capacity.

Advantage: Clemson

The Tigers haven’t lost a regular-season game (including three ACC title games) since getting clipped by Syracuse in 2017. Yet, even that season, Clemson rebounded and reached the College Football Playoff. With two national championships in the last four seasons and five straight College Football Playoff appearances, the Tigers know dominance.

Meanwhile, these are the games and settings Notre Dame hasn’t performed well in for most of the last 25 years. It has lost 11 consecutive games to teams ranked in the top five, dating back to a 17-10 victory at No. 3 Michigan in 2005, Charlie Weis’ second game as the Fighting Irish head coach.

There also might be an external feeling that all the pressure is on Notre Dame, especially with Lawrence out, along with several defensive starters, which means Clemson is playing with some “house money.”

Because of the strong possibility that the two teams could meet again on Dec. 19 in the ACC championship game, the Irish need this win on Saturday more because Clemson, based on its recent history, is more likely to make the College Football Playoff with one loss than Notre Dame, specifically because of Lawrence’s absence in this outing.

Advantage: Clemson

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