The Irish close out the 2011 season on the road against the fourth ranked Stanford Cardinal.  Notre Dame enters the game at 8 and 3, while Stanford is 10 and 1.  Their only loss a 53-30 drubbing by Oregon.

This will be the 26th all-time with the Irish holding a 17-8 advantage in the series. This will be the 12^th meeting in Stanford, with the Irish holding a slim 6-5 lead.  Notre Dame is coming off a 16-14 win over Boston College, but the win was marred by the season ending injury to RB Jonas Gray.  George Atkinson will replace Gray and join Cierre Wood, who has rushed for over 1000 yards this season, in the backfield.

Stanford is led by Heisman trophy candidate Andrew Luck.  Luck has passed for nearly 3000 yards this season and has 31 TD passes.  Luck’s favorite targets are Griff Whalen and Toby Fleener.  RB Stepgan Taylor has over a 1000 yards rushing.

Defensively, Notre Dame’s Manti Teo and Harrison Smith enter the game with 299 career tackles.

Kickoff at Stanford Stadium is 8:12 e.t.

Len