No. 9 Notre Dame (8-1) at Navy (1-7)

Site: Ravens Stadium

Time: Noon

TV/Radio: Chs. 13, 9/WJFK (1300 AM), WNAV (1430 AM)

Line: Notre Dame by 27 1/2

Series: Notre Dame leads 65-9-1

Last meeting: Notre Dame won, 34-16, last year in South Bend, Ind.

Last game: Boston College beat Notre Dame, 14-7; Tulane beat Navy, 51-30.

Navy offense vs. Notre Dame defense: Navy leads the nation in fumbles, and if the Mids turn the ball over early, it could get ugly. Notre Dame's defense is one of the nation's best and is giving up only 84.6 yards rushing a game (seventh in the country). CB Shane Walton leads the Irish secondary with six interceptions. Courtney Watson has a team-high 69 tackles. Navy QB Craig Candeto has rushed for 622 yards and nine touchdowns.

Navy defense vs. Notre Dame offense: The Mids have struggled stopping people, but Notre Dame has struggled scoring this season. Still, the Irish have plenty of big weapons. WR Arnaz Battle has 38 catches for 553 yards, and Ryan Grant has rushed for 920 yards and eight scores. Navy is giving up 40.8 points a game, and could use a few mistakes by the Irish. Notre Dame got in trouble last week by committing five turnovers.

Special teams: The Irish had trouble on specials teams last week, fumbling the snap on a field goal and fumbling again on a punt return. Navy has had similar problems all season, losing five fumbles on kickoffs. Mids running back Tony Lane is 40th in the country with a 23.5 kickoff return average.