Notre Dame Football: Win vs. USC Will Catapult Irish Toward BCS Bowl

Despite not even being in the initial BCS rankings last week, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a fighting chance to make a BCS bowl game. The Irish have bounced back with four consecutive wins after beginning the season with losses to South Florida and Michigan.

The Irish will almost certainly have to win out in order to earn an at-large bid, but it looks like a real possibility. In order for Notre Dame to run the table, though, a win over the rival USC Trojans is absolutely paramount on Saturday night.

At 5-1, the Trojans have started the season quite well, but they are also unranked. They aren't eligible to play in a bowl game due to NCAA sanctions, but the Trojans have continued to play with determination and will certainly want to derail Notre Dame's season.

USC's record is a bit of a fallacy, though, as it has lost to the only true competition on its schedule in Arizona State. The Trojans are also a bit one-dimensional since quarterback Matt Barkley has basically carried the offense on his back without a consistent running game.

Alternatively, Notre Dame has been a complete team over the past month as it has eliminated the turnover issues, played great defense and excelled in passing and running the ball on offense.

Provided the Irish can outlast USC, a BCS berth seems like a very real possibility. After facing the Trojans, the Irish will have to play Navy, Wake Forest, Maryland, Boston College and Stanford, with Stanford being the only ranked team at No. 8.

All of those teams are extremely beatable and the Irish are certainly more talented than all of them outside of Stanford. With a win over the Trojans and four additional wins, the Irish would be 9-2 entering their clash with the Stanford Cardinal.

Slowing down Stanford quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Andrew Luck will be no small task, but Stanford certainly has some deficiencies that Notre Dame can exploit. The Cardinal haven't really played anyone yet, so it will be easier to get a feel for them by the time their game with the Irish rolls around.

If Notre Dame can't get past USC, then all of this speculation will be for naught—but as long as the Irish play the same way that they have for the past month, they should be able to beat the Trojans, and perhaps beat pretty much any team in the country.