DOES NOTRE DAME HAVE THE MuscLE?

It's time for the BCS and the Heisman talk to stop.  Everything will be sorted out on Saturday when Notre Dame hosts USC in one of the most anticipated games of the 2009 college football season.

What does the game mean to No. 5 ranked USC?  They have to win!  They believe their National Championship hopes are very much alive, and they will be serious when they show up at Notre Dame Stadium.

USC knows that only one team will emerge from the SEC and they are hoping the Big 12 knocks out each other.  They're hoping to squeeze in and not get locked out like last year's team.

They also want the pollsters to take note and forget about the blemish on their 2009 record—an unexpected loss on the road to Washington.

What about the Irish, do they have to win this game? The answer is an emphatic NO!  They don't have to win because no one expects it, and they know that it would be a semi-miracle if they could pull off the upset over the Trojans.

That doesn't mean they won't show up determined to win.  They are playing for respect!  Respect for themselves and respect for the Notre Dame Football program.

They want to show the country that Notre Dame is back.  They want to show that the program is headed in the right direction and this game is the measuring stick for just how far back they have come.

This game isn't going to be an easy for the Irish.  Forget about their Top 25 ranking and the fact that they have put up big numbers on offense in all of their games this season.

Forget about all the pre-game hype because the Las Vegas book makers have installed USC as a 12-point favorite. 

I don't care about what a bunch of biased sportswriters and a bunch of coaches who don't even watch the games have to say.  I care about what the number crunchers in Las Vegas say.

For a Top 25 team to have to get 12 points at home doesn't sound like they believe these teams are close to being on the same level.

The odds-makers want action and they know that even the Irish faithful would not touch this game if they weren't getting almost two touchdowns.

This will be the first time this year that Notre Dame will see a team that plays defense.

Does USC have as strong a defense as last year's great team that gave up just nine points/game?  This year's team has allowed their opponent eight points/game.

USC has held two top-10 teams (Ohio St and Cal) to 15 and three points.  In their loss to Washington, they allowed the Huskies 16 points.

How will Notre Dame handle the USC defense?  They will simply have to play error free football.  They'll have to win the turnover battle and they will have to establish the run to open up the passing game.

How will the Irish handle the USC offense?  They'll have to play the best defensive game they have played in years.

Notre Dame can't expect to stop USC's Joe McKnight.  They'll have to contain him.  Every time he runs the football, he gains an average of seven yards.

It's going to have to come from the pressure they can put on the Trojans young quarterback Matt Barkley.  The Irish are going to have to get to him and make his day as unpleasant as possible.

I think it was tennis great Andre Agassi who was known for saying "Image is everything."  In a press conference last week, Charlie Weis said his team deserved to be a top ranked team and they were just "eleven seconds away from being undefeated."

Some folks think that Notre Dame is just about two minutes away from being a 1-4 football team.

Some folks think that against Washington, Chris Polk appeared to score a touchdown that would have put the game out of reach.  They think the official looked into a screen, like the one in that commercial, and asked a bunch of Notre Dame fans in a South Bend bar if they wanted the game to go into overtime.

Everything is going to be cleared up in a couple of days.

EXTRA POINT 1:  In an article entitled "Notre Dame - Washington: Irish Favored by Too Much Against the Huskies" I predicted the game would be very close and get decided late in the fourth quarter.

I'm going the other way this time.  Notre Dame will cover the spread and is going to make this game a lot closer than most people think.  A late touchdown will decide this one.  USC 31 ND 23.

EXTRA POINT 2: Although the No. 25 ranking the Irish received this week is questionable, it's not as questionable as the No. 13 ranking that Penn State received.  Penn State hasn't done anything to prove they're worth being in the top 25.