Notre Dame Football: Irish Will Be Back in Top 25 After Handling Pittsburgh

When the 2011 college football season kicked off there were some high expectations, like there are every year, for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

After a disappointing 0-2 start to the season, the Irish fell out of the top 25, and many of the expectations faded.

Those expectations may have faded one week too early. In Week 3, Notre Dame handled No.15 Michigan State, handing them a 31-13 loss.

With momentum back on their side, the Irish are set to face the Pittsburgh Panthers in Week 4  action.

Pittsburgh is currently sitting at a 2-1 record but overall look like the lesser of the two teams. Their two wins came against Buffalo and Maine, and they struggled against Iowa in a Week 3 loss.

Notre Dame's two losses came against two opponents who were ranked at the time of their losses. South Florida beat the Irish by three points, while Michigan led an amazing comeback to win by four in the final seconds.

Finally, in Week 3 Notre Dame got things on track. The team stopped making the stupid mistakes and turnovers that cost them wins in the first two weeks of the season.

On offense the Irish boast a phenomenal balanced attack.

Michael Floyd is one of the top wide receivers in the country. His 397 receiving yards is currently ranked third in the nation. Pittsburgh will have their hands full in the secondary all game.

Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray present one of the best one-two punches at the running back position in the nation. Wood's 5.0 yards per carry and Gray's 6.4 yards per carry will give the Panthers fits.

As long as Notre Dame can keep from committing turnovers, they should walk away with an easy victory.

With the margin of loss in Weeks 1 and 2 followed by wins for two straight weeks, Notre Dame should find themselves back towards the bottom of the top 25 rankings in after Week 4 action concludes.