This Saturday night, Notre Dame and USC face off in a Top 20 battle under the lights in South Bend with playoff implications on the line. The Irish are riding a four-game winning streak while the Trojans just picked up their biggest win in the Big 10 to date knocking off the No. 15 ranked Michigan Wolverines at home in the Coliseum 31-13. In a game with this magnitude, both teams will need their 'dudes to be dudes' and there might not be a bigger 'dude' for the USC offense than wide receiver Makai Lemon.
"No. 6, respect him from last year," Freeman said in his opening statement of today's press conference. "He’s a dude. He is a good football player. He's tough and plays the game the right way."
Lemon has given multiple defenses fits this season. He has 44 receptions for 682 receiving yards and six touchdowns on the year. The 5-11, 195-pound slot receiver had a 158-yard receiving game against Georgia Southern, a 127-yard receiving performance against Michigan State, a 151-yard receiving performance against Illinois and a nine reception, 93-yard, one touchdown performance against Michigan this past weekend. Preparing for Lemon is one of the defense's top priorities.
"A lot of challenges," Freeman answered when asked about the challenges of defending Lemon. "You want to play zone and he’ll find a way to find open space. They’ll attack you. If you want to get on-body, he can run by you; he can make you miss, he’s quick and he’s fast. He has great ball skills. There’s not a simple answer or solution to defending him. What you can’t do is let him beat you."
"He is one the most talented players you’ll see and you know he is a huge part of their offense," Freeman continued. "You’ve got to make sure you have a plan to try to not let that one person beat you. But when you do that, you’re going to open up some deficiencies in some other areas. So, we have to do a good job of mixing it up, making sure, pre-snap, that we can’t just identify if we’re in zone or man just by pre-snap alone."
So what is the plan for the receiver who went for nine receptions and 133 yards against this defense last season? There's multiple different options, and it starts with having the confidence in whoever the nickel cornerback is Saturday night.
"I have a lot of confidence in Dallas [Golden]," Freeman explained. "He played really well when you look at the entirety of the game. Obviously, the explosive first touchdown can't happen and he knows it. We have to keep playing with the proper technique but he's getting better. We have a lot of confidence in him if he has to be out there. We also have a lot of confidence in DeVonta Smith. We have to make sure we have a good plan. If that meant moving Leonard Moore there, then we move Leonard Moore there."
"But, you also have a lot of confidence knowing Leonard Moore is at corner and that side of the field is taken care of," Freeman continued. "Do you want to rob Peter to pay Paul? We have to make sure we have a good plan. We can't be insane either, right? We can't just let the same thing happen and say, 'maybe next time.' We have to have a really good plan and think about how they're going to try and attack us too."
Lemon is a game wrecker for the Trojan's offense and the Notre Dame defense can't allow him to break the game open like they did with other slot receivers they've faced like Mario Craver at Texas A&M or Malachi Toney at Miami. Lemon is the go-to target in this offense; he's only dropped one pass in 56 targets and 29 of his 44 receptions have gone for first downs. The Irish defense will have their hands full with No. 6 Saturday night.
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