Stanford Cardinal vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish Betting Odds, Football Pick

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be desperate to end a two-game straight-up home losing streak on Saturday night when they host the struggling Stanford Cardinal.

It is tough to fault Notre Dame for its 10-3 loss in the driving rain at North Carolina State last weekend, but that defeat extended the squad's current run of futility to 2-6 SU, which started with a heartbreaking 38-36 loss at Stanford in last year's regular-season finale.

The Cardinal have also fallen on hard times, tallying just 22 total points in two straight SU losses to Washington and Washington State, ending a seven-game SU tear in which they were 6-1 against the spread.

Point spread: The Fighting Irish opened as 2.5-point favorites, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. (Line updates and matchup report)

College football pick, via Odds Shark computer: 28.6-27.8 Cardinal (College football picks on every game)

Why the Stanford Cardinal can cover the spread

Stanford has dropped two straight SU for the first time in two years but has developed a strong track record of resiliency, bouncing back to claim outright victory in nine of their past 12 games following a loss. The Cardinal have also been a solid bet after going down as a favorite, responding with ATS wins in eight of their past nine such outings.

Ranked 20th in the nation, the Cardinal rush defense played an important role in the squad's early-season success and must shut down a Notre Dame ground game that failed to crack 60 rushing yards in two of their past three losses.

Why the Notre Dame Fighting Irish can cover the spread

The Fighting Irish looked to have turned the corner in their 50-33 Week 5 win over Syracuse, tallying a season-high 654 total yards including 471 yards in the air from pivot DeShone Kizer. Kizer has found the end zone on 14 occasions against just five picks. However, the Fighting Irish must avoid making excessive turnovers, which cost them in losses to Duke and Michigan State.

Despite their recent troubles, the Fighting Irish remain a reliable bet when pegged as home favorites of three or fewer points, going 6-1 SU and 5-1-1 ATS in their past seven games.

Smart pick

Stanford looked bad on both sides of the ball in their 44-6 loss to the Huskies and their 42-16 loss to the Cougars. But with little change in personnel on the Cardinal squad, their recent 5-1 SU and 4-2 ATS road record cannot be overlooked.

Notre Dame posted SU wins in its past two at home versus Stanford and is 3-0 ATS in its past three. However, they will need to show marked improvement over recent performances to maintain those trends. Look for Stanford to record the SU and ATS upset in another low-scoring contest.

Betting trends

The total has gone over in six of Notre Dame's last eight games.

Notre Dame is 10-3 ATS in its last 13 games in October.

Stanford is 8-0-1 ATS in its last nine games after losing as a favorite.

All college football betting lines and point spreads data courtesy of Bleacher Report’s official odds partner Odds Shark. All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line movement updates and Odds Shark YouTube for picks and analysis, or download the free odds tracker app.