Notre Dame will look to not fall into Navy’s trap.

After upsetting then-No. 4 Clemson at Notre Dame Stadium last Saturday, the No. 20 Irish (6-3) will hit the road to play Navy (3-6) away from South Bend for the first time since 2018. The Irish have won six of the last seven matchups against the Midshipmen heading into Saturday’s matchup (noon ET, NBC) at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. This week’s edition is the first time the two teams have met in Maryland since 2014.

Over the last three games, this series has not been much of a match. Notre Dame has won by an average of 27.3 points. Yet, the Irish are only 15.5-point favorites this week, according to the Vegas Insider consensus.

Here are the players to watch as Notre Dame looks to keep the positive vibes rolling while Navy tries to spoil them in this rivalry clash.

With so much attention going toward Notre Dame’s two leading rushers — Logan Diggs and Audric Estimé — Saturday could reveal what type of role junior Chris Tyree has to close out the season's final stretch.

Last week against Clemson, the 5-foot-10, 197-pound Tyree played a season-low 19 offensive snaps and only had seven carries for 26 yards (3.7 yards per carry) and two catches for 26 yards. Despite the low production, Tyree had touches on almost half of his snaps.

Meanwhile, senior wide receiver Joe Wilkins Jr. entered the transfer portal, leaving the Irish with six healthy scholarship receivers. When Tyree came out of Chester (Va.) Thomas Dale High, Rivals ranked him as the No. 4 all-purpose back in the class.

Although Tyree playing wide receiver is unlikely, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees should look to get him more involved in the passing game at the very least. Last season, Tyree averaged 10.8 yards per catch. And over the last two games this year, he’s averaging 12 yards on his three grabs.

Senior John Marshall is by far the Midshipmen's best defender. And he proved it last season against the Irish.

In last year’s rivalry game at Notre Dame Stadium, the 6-2, 209-pound Marshall led the team in solo tackles (seven) and tackles for loss (2.0). He was also the only player to record a sack and quarterback hurry.

This year has been much of the same.

Marshall is the team’s leading tackler with 72, which is 15 more than any other player. He also has the most tackles for loss (13.0), pass breakups (seven) and quarterback hurries (six). His 5.0 sacks rank second.

This week’s game should allow Marshall to increase his stats. Notre Dame has the nation’s No. 28 rushing offense. And last week, sophomores Diggs and Estimé exceeded 100 rushing yards in a game the Irish run game produced about 75% of the offensive yardage.

The 5-8, 105-pound sophomore Daba Fofana is the leading rusher on the Midshipmen triple-option offense.

Through nine games this season, Fofana has accounted for about 25% of the Navy rushing attack with 502 rushing yards and five touchdowns on a team-leading 140 carries (3.6 yards per carry). But last week, he only rushed six times for 14 yards, while Anton Hall Jr. carried the load with 16 rushes.

Before his second-lowest output of the season last week, Fofana had gone four consecutive games with at least 20 carries. Including a 21-carry performance against Tulsa that resulted in a career-high 159 yards and three touchdowns.

Notre Dame poses a tough run defense under defensive coordinator Al Golden. The Irish will show up in Baltimore with the No. 35 rushing defense, holding their opponents to 125.2 yards per game. Last week against Clemson, Golden’s defense held one of the country’s top rushers, Will Shipley, to 63 yards.

Fofana is also incredibly gifted off the field. He is an excellent cellist and aspiring orthopedic surgeon. He carries a 3.84 GPA as a physics major.

The captain of the Irish defense is coming off one of his best performances of the season.

Senior JD Bertrand finished with a season-high nine solo tackles and two tackles for loss. The 6-1, 230-pound Bertrand also assisted on three other tackles and had a sack.

Since missing the first halves against North Carolina and BYU due to targeting ejections in each previous game, Bertrand has taken his game to another level. He has 37 tackles (25 solo), 5.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and a pair of pass breakups over the last four weeks.

Against the Midshipmen last season, Bertrand had eight tackles (five solo) — only to have his performance upstaged by Kurt Hinish. The Notre Dame defensive tackle, Hinish, had 10 tackles (eight solo), 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack.

Though the Notre Dame defensive line will swallow up its fair share of tackles in this season’s edition, Bertrand will clean up whatever is left. Navy’s triple-option offense requires lots of responsibility for opposing linebackers. And Bertrand’s leadership and experience will serve the Irish well in Saturday’s matchup.

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