Notre Dame Proves Talented Enough to Keep Playoff Hope Alive

The separation between an elite team and a very good one can be as narrow as a play or two, even over a long regular season in a sport as crazy as college football.

But to even get into a position to be considered very good or great, a team usually will have to get through some form of adversity. The difference between hanging on and falling apart is consistently coming up with a few big plays when they're needed.

Nobody knows this more than Notre Dame, which flirted with disaster again Saturday night but still came up with enough of those big plays to escape rival USC with a 41-31 victory to move to 6-1.

For about three quarters at Notre Dame Stadium, the Trojans looked like a team that was ranked in the preseason top 10. It was in that final stanza, however, that the Irish proved resilient and showed why they remain in firm contention for one of the four spots in the College Football Playoff.

"We had two 90-yard drives offensively...and then we just found a way to make some big plays," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly told NBC. "Our kids made some big plays in the fourth quarter when they needed to."

That may not be the team's strategy each week, but it's certainly been its modus operandi through seven weeks. It can be trying at times, including for the fanbase, but it's working so far despite frequent injuries and setbacks.

It's time to come to grips with the fact that the Irish aren't just good—they're very good and capable of beating anybody in the country. That includes Clemson, if the two were to meet again down the road, which is possible.

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Under the tutelage of Kelly and offensive coordinator Mike Sanford, quarterback DeShone Kizer continues to improve each week. His steely resolve is noticeable, as there's not much that seems to faze him.

Maybe it's just that the redshirt freshman doesn't know any better, but the player who started the year as a backup has not looked like one when the Irish have needed him to make big plays.

It helps, of course, to have C.J. Prosise in the backfield with you.

The tailback looks like he's capable of scoring any time he touches the football. Prosise racked up 143 yards and two touchdowns on the ground against USC, and he led the team with five receptions. He also was simply too quick and too elusive to tackle.

But the backfield duo's playmaking ability was never more evident than it was after USC stormed down the field early in the third quarter. Cody Kessler finished the drive by hitting tight end Taylor McNamara in the back of the end zone for a 31-24 lead.

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After the teams traded punts, the Irish, led by Prosise, marched 90 yards in just three minutes to tie the game. That sparked a run of 17 straight points, including an incredible catch by a leaping, stretching Corey Robinson that put Notre Dame back on top for good.

KeiVarae Russell and Max Redfield sealed the deal with a pair of interceptions sandwiched around a Justin Yoon field goal. Russell's pick was a highlight-reel grab in which he reached up to snag the ball over JuJu Smith-Schuster's shoulder. Most receivers can't make that kind of play, yet it looks like Notre Dame is quite comfortable coming up with feats of this sort when they're needed most.

This squad doesn't get tight when the game gets close; it's almost as if it plays better. The same cannot be said of the Trojans, who put in a valiant effort in the face of the team's never-ending soap opera but failed once again to make a run down the stretch in a game they could have won.

Kessler's two interceptions soured his 365-yard night, and he looked lost in the fourth quarter as he tried to check down every play despite previous downfield success. Ronald Jones II seems like the team's best running back, but he received just two carries after breaking off a 65-yard run that set up USC's only second-half score.

Smith-Schuster and Adoree' Jackson recorded big scoring plays to give their team a chance on the road, but they were absent for much of the second half.

To add salt to the Trojans' wound, Equanimeous St. Brown, a Notre Dame wide receiver from Southern California who was recruited by USC, blocked a punt in the first quarter that was returned for a touchdown by former Trojans running back Amir Carlisle.

It's becoming that kind of season for USC fans, as the Trojans slumped to 3-3 with the loss.

That's not the case for the Irish. For them, it's been a season of coming through when necessary. Sure, Notre Dame is playing up and down to its competition, but it's still 6-1 with a close loss to a team that should go undefeated this season.

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The end result is that the Irish are still very much in contention for one of the four playoff spots despite having lost nearly a half-dozen starters to season-ending injuries. With a relatively easy next four games, things are setting up nicely for a showdown with the school's other rival from the West: Stanford.

A trip to Temple on Halloween will be tricky, as the Owls are undefeated and looking like a strong candidate to emerge from the quietly tough American Athletic Conference. And Notre Dame will be tested again with a trip to Pitt the week after. But the Irish will likely enter those games as a double-digit favorite with promising matchups on both sides of the ball.

Following a pair of games against middling ACC teams Wake Forest and Boston College, the trip to the Farm looms large.

Given the chaos that unfolded on Saturday alone, from Ann Arbor to Baton Rouge to College Station and everywhere in between, that Nov. 28 date is looking like it could very well be a play-in game for both the Irish and the Cardinal.

Each team has already suffered one loss this year, but their resumes and on-field products show they belong among the top 10 teams and could be among the precious few competing to be one of the four elite squads to take a shot at the national title.

There's a very thin line between good and great, and after Saturday night, Notre Dame has firmly established itself in the latter group.

There may be only one big test left for a young team that continues to grow every week.

Bryan Fischer covers college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @BryanDFischer.