College Football Lettermen Stay On the News Each week, two of college's football's seasoned observers, Pre-Snap Read's Paul Myerberg and Robert Weintraub of Football Outsiders, get together over e-mail to discuss the biggest games and story lines around the country. Hi Paul, In a nifty coincidence, the big game of the weekend involves a team that made the biggest off-field news of the week: Notre Dame. The Irish travel to East Lansing for an encounter with Michigan State three days after announcing they would join the Atlantic Coast Conference for five annual games (and full time in all other sports except hockey), thus clouding the future of the rivalry with the Spartans. The teams have agreed to play, with a couple of breaks, until 2031, but should tangling with the likes of Wake Forest and Boston College become too taxing for Notre Dame, all contracts will be revisited. It seems like only yesterday Notre Dame's athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, was denouncing Syracuse and Pitt for bolting the Big East for the A.C.C. Actually, it was just under a year ago. But now the Irish are getting in on the fun (and creating the Southeastern Conference of lacrosse conferences at the same time). At a stroke, Notre Dame betters its postseason possibilities and its recruiting, which has not been nearly the machine it was two decades ago, when the Irish often vied for national supremacy with Miami and Florida State, with whom they now share a conference. But that's not until 2014, and we have a game Saturday. Notre Dame barely escaped Purdue last week, rescued by the once-disgraced backup quarterback Tommy Rees, who came off the bench to lead the winning drive to a last-second field goal. Rees lost his job after brawling in the off-season, but found redemption in the second week (or seven games earlier than Jordan Jefferson did for Louisiana State under similar circumstances in 2011). Everett Golson will remain the starter but Coach Brian Kelly's leash is short. More worrying is Notre Dame's offensive line. Supposedly a strength, the unit was pushed around by the Boilermakers -- only 52 rushing yards and five sacks allowed -- and Sparty's defense is to Purdue's what a forest fire is to a smoldering ember. Throw in Le'Veon Bell, the nation's fifth-leading rusher, and a fired-up group out for revenge from last season's whipping at the hands of the Irish, and Michigan State should prevail. What other action has you fired up? Hey Rob, I've been really impressed by Golson's ability to prolong plays for Notre Dame's offense. Through two games, that's been one major difference between Golson and Rees, though Rees did save Notre Dame's bacon late against Purdue. And that Golson is playing this well through his first two career starts speaks to his potential. Historically, quarterbacks in Kelly's offense take a huge step forward as they gain experience in the system. Golson's future looks bright. I love the Notre Dame-Michigan State matchup. Rob, do you remember the last time the Irish visited East Lansing? In 2010, Mark Dantonio dialed up a fake-field-goal pass with no time left rather than try a potentially game-tying 46-yarder. Aaron Bates, the holder, took the snap and fired a strike to Charlie Gantt for a 29-yard touchdown. Spartans 34, Irish 31. Notre Dame returned the favor last fall, beating Michigan State by 31-13 in South Bend. It's a great Saturday, Rob. Based on what we've seen over the last week, Alabama will beat Arkansas by 75 points. Texas Christian makes its Big 12 debut at Kansas. Southern California heads to Stanford, looking to break a three-game losing streak to the Cardinal. And Florida heads to Tennessee in a key SEC East game. All of a sudden, it's plodding Florida versus high-flying Tennessee. A lot has changed, right? Paul Paul, Steve Spurrier would be in shock at the reversal of personality in Gainesville, except that he's presiding over a similar grind-it-out attack at South Carolina. But that's what I love about college football -- the way things can change so drastically from year to year. Case in point is the U.S.C.-Stanford game. Last year, it was Andrew Luck overcoming a late pick six to lead a clutch drive and helping the Cardinal to win in triple overtime. But now Luck, along with several other offensive stars, are in the pros, and it's Southern Cal coming upstate with the N.F.L.-ready players. Jim Harbaugh's infusion of toughness and talent in Palo Alto has just about dissipated, so the time is nigh for U.S.C. to break that losing streak. On the subject of the worm turning, Wake Forest has somehow beaten Florida State in four of the last six tries, including two of three in Tallahassee. The Demon Deacons pulled out a late win over North Carolina last week, but if F.S.U. is truly national-title material, they should send Wake back to Tobacco Road with its first (convincing) loss. Odd factoid of the week: both teams had their games interrupted by lightning strikes last Saturday (and in the Seminoles' case, ended). Paul, do you see any top-25 team getting hit by a bolt from the blue and getting upset this week? Rob Good question, Rob. I can think of a few. How about No. 25 Brigham Young at Utah? The Cougars have yet to be tested through two games (Washington State and Weber State). Meanwhile, the Utes are fresh off a disappointing loss at Utah State last week. You know what they say about throwing out the records when two rivals meet? Well, that adage holds even more true when it's the Holy War - and even more so when the Utes break in a new starting quarterback, whether it be Jon Hays or the true freshman Travis Wilson. But would that really be an upset? I wouldn't think so. Nor would a Stanford win over U.S.C., as surprising as such a result might be; the Cardinal are No. 21 in this week's poll, so folks are taking David Shaw's team seriously. The two ranked teams that should be somewhat wary heading into Saturday are No. 13 Virginia Tech and No. 19 Louisville. The Hokies host Pittsburgh - and let me explain. How bad have the Panthers been through two games under Paul Chryst? Searching for the right word... How about horrid? But there's talent at Pittsburgh, and it may just be a matter of time before the team gels in Chryst's offensive system. The Cardinals will get all they can handle from North Carolina. Again, a U.N.C. win over Louisville might not be that much of an upset. Any non-top 25 games that interest you? I'm excited for Virginia at Georgia Tech, Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn (the Warhawks just beat Arkansas), Boston College at Northwestern and Arizona State at Missouri. Paul, I'm intrigued by Louisiana-Lafayette visiting Oklahoma State, which was smoked, 59-38, by Rich Rodriguez and Arizona last weekend. Can the Ragin' Cajuns make it a second straight road upset for a hyphenate from the Pelican State? Iowa has been brutal thus far, losing to Iowa State and barely scraping past Northern Illinois. Now it faces another 'Northern I' team -- Northern Iowa, which gave Wisconsin a scare in the opener. I suppose this will be a litmus test to determine which Big Ten power, the Hawkeyes or the Badgers, is due for a bigger bummer of a season. Speaking of Wisconsin, the team has already fired its new offensive line coach after just two games, including last week's epic fail at Oregon State. The Badgers get a tricky one at home against Utah State, the Aggies fresh off the upset of Utah you mentioned. And all eyes in SEC country are focused on Auburn and Gene Chizik, whose seat is getting improbably warm just 15 games removed from the B.C.S. championship the Tigers won in 2010. A Warhawks win would turn the heat up a notch under Chizik. Enjoy the action,