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The Stanford Cardinal own bragging rights in the recent rivalry with Notre Dame, winning seven of the last nine meetings straight up, going 5-4 against the spread. Who's the smart bet for the latest edition of this great series Saturday night in South Bend?

College football point spread: The Fighting Irish opened as three-point favorites, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark. (Line updates and matchup report)

College football betting pick, via OddsShark computer: 28.8-26.8 Fighting Irish (College football picks on every game)

Check out the OddsShark podcast on iTunes or at OddsShark.libsyn.com for more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news.

Why the Stanford Cardinal can cover the spread

The Cardinal are 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS on the season, after pulling off an improbable 38-31 come-from-behind victory at Oregon on Saturday night.

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Stanford sputtered early, trailed 24-7 at the half and were in danger of going down 31-7 late in the third quarter. But the Cardinal got a gift from the football gods that resulted in a defensive touchdown and the comeback was on. Another gift led to a field goal at the buzzer that forced OT, where Stanford won it with a touchdown on a beautiful catch by tight end Colby Parkinson and an interception in the end zone.

On the night the Cardinal got beat on the stat sheet, but in a game decided by big plays, they made several at just the right times.

Last year Stanford defeated Notre Dame 38-20, winning that game outright as a three-point dog.

Why the Notre Dame Fighting Irish can cover the spread

The Irish are also 4-0 SU this season, after walloping Wake Forest last week 56-27. Notre Dame spotted the Demon Deacons the first three points of the game and only led 21-13 late into the second quarter. But a 28-0 run had the Irish up 49-13, on their way to an easy cover as six-point favorites.

On the day Notre Dame piled up 566 yards of offense, 241 on the ground and 325 through the air. Quarterback Ian Book, starting in place of an inefficient Brandon Wimbush, led the way, hitting on 25 of 34 throws, three for touchdowns, and ran for three scores, as the Irish scored touchdowns on eight of nine possessions spanning the halves to pull away.

Notre Dame already owns one victory/cover over a ranked team this season, that 24-17 decision over Michigan back on opening weekend.

Smart betting pick

Stanford is 3-0 ATS the last three times it's been lined as a dog against Notre Dame, including short outright upsets the last two seasons. In fact, the underdog is 6-0 ATS the last six games in this rivalry. This game itself is near a toss-up on the field, so the smart money takes the points.

College football betting trends

The total has gone under in six of Stanford's last eight games vs Notre Dame.

Notre Dame is 0-4 ATS in its last four games at home vs teams with winning records.

The total has gone under in four of Notre Dame's last five games.

All college football odds and betting trends according to Bleacher Report's official odds partner, OddsShark. Check out OddsShark on Twitter and Instagram or head to YouTube for more betting picks and analysis on this week's top games. You can also download the free odds tracker app.