The Alabama Crimson Tide's stunning loss to the Texas A&M Aggies has brought new life to the championship hopes of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Despite running the table up to this point, the No. 4 Irish were on the outside looking in. The Crimson Tide had a firm grip on the No. 1 spot, and it looked almost impossible for Notre Dame to leapfrog both the Oregon Ducks and the Kansas State Wildcats to get to No. 2. 

Alabama's loss has changed everything.

Now, there are only three undefeated teams in college football. Alabama will likely fall past Notre Dame in the BCS rankings, with the Irish likely moving up to No. 3.

And a loss from either Oregon or Kansas State gives Notre Dame (provided they win out) the golden ticket to Miami.

The Fighting Irish must be encouraged by what they saw from the teams ranked ahead of them. Collin Klein and Kansas State didn't look sharp against TCU tonight even though the Wildcats got a comfortable win. Also, the Ducks had some struggles of their own pulling away from Cal.

Both of these teams face some tough tests in the upcoming weeks. Oregon has to get past Stanford, Oregon State and either USC or UCLA in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Kansas State still has Baylor and Texas to get past.

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Meanwhile, the loss to A&M deals Alabama a stunning blow in its defense of its national championship. Had they beaten the Aggies and followed that up with wins against FCS Western Carolina and Auburn, the Tide would have been set to face Georgia (in all likelihood) in the SEC Championship Game.

Alabama would have been favored in all of those games.

While it's possible, and perhaps even likely, that one team ahead of Notre Dame to fall, needing two teams to fall seemed to be too much to hope for.

Once again this season, luck is with the Irish.

Now, Notre Dame doesn't exactly have a cakewalk to the end of the season either. While Wake Forest is far from a formidable opponent, the Irish still have to travel to L.A. to take on dangerous rival USC. Still, Manti Te'o and the Irish have come too far to get turned back now.

It's just been too long since Notre Dame played for a national championship. Perhaps it's finally time for Notre Dame to return to national glory.

We'll just have to wait and see.