October 15, 2009

Mike Huguenin
Rivals.com College Football Editor

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Forget just trying to snap a seven-game losing streak to the Trojans. Irish coach Charlie Weis said not only would a victory lift his spirits, but also "our university really, really could use this win."

USC has won the past three meetings by a combined 120-27, and the Trojans held the Irish to 93 total yards in rolling 38-3 last season. Notre Dame managed just six first-half yards and finished with only four first downs last season.

"Last year was just a manhandling, and that's what they'll try to do to us again," Weis said. "They had great success doing it, so there's no reason to believe they won't try that same approach."

While the Trojans have eight new defensive starters this season, the Trojans again are putting up phenomenal numbers on that side of the ball. USC is sixth nationally in total defense, fifth in rushing defense and fourth in scoring defense. The Trojans are 25th in passing defense and haven't allowed a touchdown pass; Notre Dame must be successful through the air if it is going to pull the upset.

Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen leads the nation in passing efficiency, having thrown for 1,544 yards and 12 touchdowns - with just two interceptions. He also has guided the Irish to three consecutive last-minute victories.

"You can't be much better than they are," USC coach Pete Carroll said of the Irish's passing attack. "The efficiency he's throwing at right now, Clausen's on it. He's finding receivers. They're protecting him well. He's keeping the negative plays down.

Key matchup: Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller vs. Central Michigan's secondary. Hiller has struggled at times this season, and he has to be razor-sharp if the Broncos are to pull the upset against Central Michigan. Chippewas QB Dan LeFevour is going to have success against a rebuilt WMU secondary, so if Western is to win, it will be in a shootout. Hiller has thrown for 300 yards just once this season, but he'll need to reach that plateau if WMU is to win. In the Broncos' three losses, he has thrown two TD passes and five picks. CMU has allowed just three TD passes this season.

Player on the spot: Wyoming QB Austyn Carta-Samuels. Carta-Samuels, a true freshman, has thrown for 689 yards, with six TDs and one interception, in the past three games - all victories. But the wins have come against UNLV, Florida Atlantic and New Mexico, which have a combined two wins (both by UNLV). The competition gets tougher Saturday, when the Cowboys play at Air Force. The Falcons lead the nation in takeaways and are fifth nationally in pass defense and 11th in scoring defense.

Numbers game: BYU leads the nation in third-down conversion percentage at 61.97 (44-of-71).

What they're saying:

"I look at it as somebody who won't is no better than somebody who can't. We're not being productive and we can't reward talent; we have to reward productivity. We have to play guys who will allow our offense to be productive." - East Carolina coach Skip Holtz, on possible lineup changes on offense

"He hasn't complained to me at all, which is good. That's annoying as a quarterback, when people complain about not getting the ball." - Troy QB Levi Brown, to the Dothan (Ala.) Eagle, about WR Jerrel Jernigan, who has seen a lot of double coverage and has just 17 catches

"When you are playing bad, you have to try to keep the players upbeat and try to keep them going. When you start winning, you can work them as hard as you want to work them and they won't care." - Memphis coach Tommy West

"We have a lot of players making big plays; we are just not making enough of them in a row." - Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger, to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

"That's the biggest issue for us: Can we overcome what we went through? We can't let that game defeat us twice." - Kent State coach Doug Martin, on his team blowing a 35-23 fourth-quarter lead to Bowling Green last week

"The coaches are obviously changing their minds week to week. Who knows what they base their decisions on." - WAC commissioner Karl Benson, on unbeaten Boise State being one spot behind one-loss USC in this week's coaches' poll after being ahead of the Trojans last week. Neither played last week

"Because of the balance in the conference, it reminds me, in all honesty, of the SEC, where to go through the conference and be undefeated would be a heck of a feat." - Toledo coach Tim Beckman, on the depth in the MAC

"I expected us to get to this point. I knew there would be some challenges, but I knew this is where we could be." - Idaho coach Robb Akey, whose team is 5-1 after going a combined 3-21 in his first two seasons.

Etc.: Nevada has suspended starting OT Mike Gallett for the rest of the season for a violation of team rules. He was a second-team All-WAC performer last season. ... Idaho (5-1) has won three consecutive games by four or fewer points. It plays host to Hawaii on Saturday, and the Vandals are one win from bowl eligibility. The last time Idaho went to a bowl was 1998, when the Vandals were coached by Chris Tormey. Tormey is Hawaii's special teams coach and assistant secondary coach. ... BYU plays at San Diego State on Saturday. BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall was a graduate assistant at Oregon when current SDSU coach Brady Hoke was the Beavers' defensive line coach, and Mendenhall calls Hoke one of his mentors. ... Akron is down to its third-string quarterback. Starter Chris Jacquemain was suspended for the season for violating team rules; then, backup Matt Rodgers was lost for the season last week with an anterior cruciate ligament tear. The new starter is true freshman Patrick Nicely, who had been redshirting. ... Florida International may be without star WR T.Y. Hilton for Saturday's game against visiting Troy. He suffered a sprained knee last week against Western Kentucky. ... TCU has won seven in a row and is tied with Kansas for the fourth-longest winning streak in the country (Florida is at 15, Iowa 10 and Texas nine). ... Akron on Monday announced the hiring of Chris Hedden as tight ends coach. Hedden, who was Toledo's offensive coordinator last season, replaces Reno Ferri, who recently resigned amid a review by the NCAA of some of Akron's recruiting practices. Hedden also served as the Zips' recruiting coordinator. ... Central Michigan WR Bryan Anderson has caught a pass in 46 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the nation. ... Air Force already has set a school single-season record by scoring five defensive touchdowns. ... Miami University is playing its sixth game away from home of the season Saturday, against Ohio University. Miami has played one-neutral site game and four true road games. Four of the RedHawks' final five games are at home. ... Nevada coach Chris Ault got his 200th career victory last week. He is the sixth-winningest active coach. ... Police in Union City, Tenn., said Monday, four days after the shooting, that Southern Miss walk-on punter Peter Wilkes, 18, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. "He was going home for fall break to meet up with his brothers and sisters, and they were picking out a headstone for his father's grave," Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora said. Wilkes' dad died over the summer of a heart attack.

Mike Huguenin is the college sports editor for Rivals.com. He can be reached at mhuguenin@rivals.com.