11/21/2022 football Edit

Notre Dame injury report: Hart, Merriweather questionable for USC

A shoulder injury could prevent Notre Dame cornerback Cam Hart from playing against USC. (Jeff Douglas, Inside ND Sports)

Tyler James • InsideNDSports

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Covering Notre Dame football, recruiting and other Irish sports. Email: tjames@insidendsports.com

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame could be forced to play against one of the nation's top passing offenses Saturday without one of its top cornerbacks.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman on Monday described senior cornerback Cam Hart as questionable for Saturday's game at AP No. 5 USC (10-1).

The 6-foot-3, 198-pound Hart left Notre Dame's 44-0 victory over Boston College on Saturday midway through the third quarter after missing a tackle on wide receiver Zay Flowers. The play apparently aggravated a shoulder injury Hart has been dealing with throughout the season.

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Hart played in all 11 games for the AP No. 13 Irish (8-3) and started 10 of them. He leads the Irish with four pass breakups and tallied 25 tackles and three tackles for a loss.

Notre Dame's secondary, which is ranked No. 16 in the FBS in passing yards allowed (186.8 per game), will be tested against quarterback Caleb Williams and a slew of talented wide receivers who have combined for the No. 4-ranked passing offense in the FBS by averaging 330.8 yards per game.

Freeman also deemed freshman wide receiver Tobias Merriweather questionable. Merriweather, with one 41-yard touchdown catch to his name in six games played, missed the previous two games recovering from a concussion.

Freeman shared positive updates regarding other Notre Dame players who either missed the Boston College game — defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola (concussion) and safety Brandon Joseph (ankle) — or were banged up during it — defensive end Isaiah Foskey (undisclosed) and tight end Mitchell Evans (ankle). Freeman declared all four of them as probable for the USC game.

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