Soon-to-be No. 1 Notre Dame controls national title destiny
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
NOTRE DAME, Ind. ” What a night!
Not only does Notre Dame now know if it beats USC next Saturday in Los Angeles, the Irish be playing in the BCS National Championship Game, but they will go to Southern California ranked No. 1 in the nation.
If the Irish are ranked No. 1 as expected, it will be the first time Notre Dame’s program has held the top spot since 1993 when Lou Holtz was guiding the program.
Notre Dame controls its destiny thanks to Baylor’s stunning 52-24 upset win over No. 1 Kansas State, and Stanford’s shocking 17-14 overtime win at No. 2 Oregon.
When the BCS rankings are released Sunday night, the Irish will move into the No. 1 spot and Alabama, who thought its national title hopes were dashed last week with a home loss to Texas A&M, is expected to be No. 2.
Notre Dame (11-0) plays the 7-4 Trojans in the Coliseum to end its regular season.
After the Irish blew out Wake Forest 38-0 Saturday, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly was asked about if it gets harder not to think about the big picture and what’s transpiring in the college football landscape.
It’s easier now because we have one game left, Kelly said. So for us the focus and all those things, not looking ahead, we don’t have to worry about that anymore. We have one game left on our schedule.
Our guys know what’s at stake now. This is about an undefeated season. They cannot do anything else but beat USC. The rest is up to other people to decide.
I told them tonight I’m proud of them, Kelly added. I voted them No. 1 in the country for a reason because I think they’re the best team in the country.
But now Kelly knows his team’s national championship fate isn’t in other peoples’ hands. It’s solely in Notre Dame’s and the formula to Miami’s Sun Life Stadium is simple. Beat SC and play for a national championship for the first time since 1988.
Linebacker Manti Te’o, playing his final game in Notre Dame Stadium Saturday, said after the win over the Demon Deacons, It’s USC. There is no game after that. If we take care of USC, we’ll be fine.
All we have to do is take care of USC and prepare the right way. USC is a really good team as we all know. The USC-Notre Dame game is always a battle. So we understand that and we’re going to prepare the way we know how.
And if the result is the same it’s been in the Irish’s last 11 games, Notre Dame will record its first undefeated season since 1988 and know it won’t need any help from anyone the Irish will be playing for a national championship. How does that sound Notre Dame fans?
