Believe It -- Irish Back In Title Hunt

If you think Notre Dame's national title hopes will be decided in two weeks, take a deep breath. There are still those darned conference championship games to decide, which means the SEC championship, which means Florida, which means Dec. 2.

First, the Irish have to take care of their own business, which means beating Army and suddenly refocused USC. Army should be a blowout. Guys like senior receiver Rhema McKnight (pictured) should thrive. It's Notre Dame's last home game, Senior Day, a big emotional event. This should be a 40-point laugher.

USC will be a rock-the-college world event. Not as big as Michigan-Ohio State, but very, very close. That comes with one big stipulation -- the No. 3 Trojans have to beat California this Saturday. The more impressive they win, the better it will be for Notre Dame.

So say the Irish win out. Then they need a large victory margin by the Michigan-Ohio State winner -- large enough to drop the loser to at least No. 3 in the polls.

Then they need No. 4 Florida to lose -- either to rival Florida State on Nov. 25 (not likely) or in the SEC title game the following week (Arkansas will be a major challenge). To be safe, No. 6 Rutgers needs to lose to anybody, although I can't see the Scarlet Knights passing Notre Dame unless the Irish lose.

So take a deep breath. These next few weeks figure to be awfully exciting.