Can Brian Kelly Beat the Trojans and Land Gunner Kiel in the Same Weekend?

Could the Fighting Irish get a daily double, a la the game show "Jeopardy!," and get a rivalry win over USC and secure the commitment of five-star recruit quarterback Gunner Kiel this weekend?

Let’s start first with the result Notre Dame can most control themselves this weekend with their game under the lights in South Bend against the Trojans Saturday night.

After the poor 0-2 start for the Fighting Irish, Brian Kelly and his team have reeled off a four-game winning streak coming into Saturday’s USC game with wins over Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Purdue and Air Force.

After being dominated by the Trojans during the Pete Carroll era for the better part of the 2000s, Notre Dame finds itself on equal footing with USC as both programs felt growing pains after changing head coaches to Brian Kelly and Lane Kiffin, respectively.

If the Irish want to earn another victory over USC, Tommy Rees and Michael Floyd will be the key for a Notre Dame win as the duo could tear apart the Trojans’ pass defense that ranks all the way down at 105th in the nation.

With that key stat present, I would expect to see Notre Dame get their fifth straight win this season with a home win over their rivals from SoCal.

Now with the game out of the way, let’s look at the big off-the-field story for the Irish as the unofficial visit of recruit Gunner Kiel to South Bend has Irish faithful drooling at the possibility of nabbing the star recruit from Indiana.

Kiel, the highly rated quarterback from Columbia East, had originally made a commitment to join the Indiana Hoosiers but rescinded that this past Thursday as he reopened his search with schools like Michigan, Alabama and of course, Notre Dame, on the short list.

If Kiel does decide to go to the Fighting Irish, the young quarterback will have Brian Kelly and a strong coaching staff that could insert him into the developing Notre Dame offense that features more talent than what his former commitment, Indiana, brought to the table.

So, could Brian Kelly, who felt the flames of the hot seat with the poor start to 2011, score his second straight win over USC and nab a five star recruit in just a matter of a few days?

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