No. 6 Notre Dame visits No. 9 Stanford at 4:30 p.m. PT Saturday with a College Football Playoff berth potentially in the balance. Here are five things to watch:

Notre Dame run game: The Irish delivered their second-worst performance of the season on the ground (3.7 yards per carry) in last week's close call at Boston College, and leading rusher C.J. Prosise might not play in Saturday's game -- he's been wearing a walking boot this week. If Prosise can't go, the onus is on freshman Josh Adams to deliver for Notre Dame. This is key, because it'll be tough for the Irish to expose Stanford's young secondary without a presence on the ground to neutralize the Cardinal's pass rush.

DeShone Kizer against the Stanford secondary: If the past two weeks are any indication, the sophomore quarterback should have opportunities to make throws against Stanford's defensive backs, who have yielded big numbers to both Oregon and California recently. Speedy Irish receiver Will Fuller is one of deadliest weapons in the country, and he should pose a huge challenge to a Cardinal secondary whose senior leader, Ronnie Harris, might not be fully healthy for this game. Again, much will come down to Notre Dame's ability to establish a run game: If the Irish can do that, Stanford will be very vulnerable to the play-action attack.

Christian McCaffrey: He's a serious Heisman Trophy candidate, is only 444 yards away from Barry Sanders' single-season NCAA all-purpose yardage record and is also Stanford's offensive key to this game. In last season's 17-14 loss at Notre Dame, the Cardinal mustered only 47 rushing yards on 32 carries, with the average of 1.5 yards per try the worst of the Jim Harbaugh-David Shaw era. Stanford's inability to run the football stalled the offense. McCaffrey has been virtually unstoppable this season, and that's been the main driver of the Cardinal's offensive success (36.8 points per game). Let's see if his dominance continues with Heisman voters certainly watching.

Kevin Hogan's play: He grew up a big Irish fan, so this final battle against Notre Dame certainly means the world to the senior. In wet conditions last year, Hogan struggled against the Irish, finishing with a career-worst 4.4 yards per attempt. The key to success here mirrors the one facing the Notre Dame offense: If Stanford can establish its running game, Hogan should be free to do damage with his arm and his legs. The Cardinal haven't been stopped yet when they've been at their balanced best offensively, and Hogan is the pivot point in that effort.

The out-of-town scoreboard: Both of these teams are alive in the College Football Playoff chase, but they'll also both need outside help to make the final four. The sidelines will be solely focused on the game at hand, but fans should keep an eye on all of the other top-10 action around the country, because that'll help determine the postseason picture.