1) What's the comfort level with Notre Dame's offensive line as it goes up against the Aggie D-line?

From my perspective, it's hard to be comfortable with the lack of experience Notre Dame will use on its offensive line. The starting five linemen have a combined six career starts and three of them — freshman left tackle Anthonie Knapp, sophomore left guard Sam Pendleton and junior right tackle Aamil Wagner — will be making their first career starts. Even the most experienced of the group — junior center Ashton Craig and junior right guard Billy Schrauth — only started the last three games of last season each. So if you're looking for comfortable, that sounds like a bed of rocks.But this is still Notre Dame we're talking about, so we're not talking about young players with a lack of talent. They all beat out more experienced players ahead of them. Wagner was a Rivals250 four-star recruit. Pendleton was a four-star recruit. Knapp is the surprise as a three-star recruit who seemed more likely to end up at guard later in his career. I expect Notre Dame to try to protect the offensive line as much as possible, but it's going to be a real test of how much offensive line coach Joe Rudolph has developed these players and the chemistry they've created in a short amount of time.

2) The Irish obviously have a lot of new faces on offense, including at OC and quarterback. What's different schematically from last year's offense?

The most noticeable changes will likely come in three forms: more pre-snap motion, more quarterback runs and more trust in the wide receivers to make plays down the field. The latter two are certainly influenced by ND's personnel. Riley Leonard's going to make plays with his legs as a quarterback that Sam Hartman couldn't. And former offensive coordinator Gerad Parker was hamstrung by a thin and unremarkable receiving corps last year. Notre Dame upgraded that unit through the transfer portal, and new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock will benefit from that.However, don't expect this offense to resemble LSU's offense from last year too much. Denbrock doesn't have first-round NFL Draft talent at wide receiver at Notre Dame.

3) What are your expectations from Riley Leonard as he gets his first start with the Irish and he goes against his old coach?

I expect Leonard to look pretty sharp, though I'm skeptical about how much time he'll have to throw given the mismatch upfront. So I'd expect him to make a lot of quick decisions, and then tuck it and run if he doesn't like what he sees. Denbrock has talked about how Jayden Daniels often did that in his first season at LSU, and I think Leonard has a similiar level of confidence in his ability to make plays with his legs. Leonard's coming from a Duke program that wasn't totally loaded with offensive talent, so he's used to shouldering the load.

4) What are you thoughts on Notre Dame's defensive line and, if it's an answer like I expect, what makes them so very good?

It's talented and it's deep. Notre Dame doesn't have a premier pass rusher among the group, but it has a lot of different guys who can get after the quarterback. And they're pretty sound against the run as well. Defensive tackles Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills are the leaders of the group. Duke transfer RJ Oben is looking to make an impact at defensive end. And sophomore Boubacar Traore looks like a future stud as a pass rusher.

5) If A&M wins on Saturday, what do you think would be the most likely reasons?Texas A&M's defensive line had its way with Notre Dame's offensive line and prevented the Irish finding any rhythm on offense. Notre Dame's defense should be very stout, but A&M might only need a couple of big plays to make the difference in what I expect to be a fairly low-scoring game.