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FACTS & STATS: Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795) -- South Bend, Indiana. Television: NBC. Home Record: Washington 2-1, Notre Dame 2-0. Away Record: Washington 0-1, Notre Dame 1-1. Neutral Record: Washington 0-0, Notre Dame 0-0. Conference Record: Washington 1-1, Notre Dame 0-0. Series Record: Notre Dame leads, 7-0.

GAME NOTES: The Washington Huskies and Notre Dame Fighting Irish are set to do battle in a non-conference affair from South Bend.

Washington shocked the college football world two weeks ago with a 16-13 upset of USC. Unfortunately, that elation faded quickly as the team was beaten soundly by Stanford last weekend, 34-14, to drop coach Steve Sarkisian's bunch to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the league. Still, Sarkisian has to be proud of his progress, as Washington didn't manage a single win last season before he arrived to turn things around.

As for Notre Dame, it appeared to be on its way to defeat against Purdue last weekend, but a late touchdown saved the day for the Fighting Irish and lifted them to 3-1 on the young season. Their lone loss came against Michigan in the final minute on the road, so the team was awfully close to being undefeated at this point. Charlie Weis, the club's head coach, was the subject of much criticism prior to the start of this season, but his team is playing well and is set for its first of three straight home games.

Notre Dame has won all seven previous meetings with Washington, the most recent of which being a 33-7 thrashing of the Huskies last season.

Through four outings, Washington is generating 23.8 ppg and 358.8 total ypg. The ground game has been rather weak, meaning that a great deal of pressure falls on the strong arm of quarterback Jake Locker. He has completed 58.1 percent of his passes for 1,002 yards with six touchdowns against three interceptions, and the big man is a capable runner as well with two rushing scores to his credit. The fact that the Huskies are making good on 58 percent of their third down conversion attempts is impressive. In the loss to Stanford, however, the offense finished with 290 yards and registered only one touchdown. The Huskies held possession of the ball for less than 27 minutes and turned it over three times. Locker's two interceptions were costly, and he barely completed half of his passes. Chris Polk led the ground attack with 75 yards, but he averaged less than four yards per attempt. Put simply, the offense didn't play nearly well enough to win.

Opponents are scoring 25.2 ppg against a Washington defense that has been a bit inconsistent through the first four weeks. The Huskies are yielding 25.2 ppg and 379.2 total ypg. They have struggled against the run, as foes are gaining 195.8 ypg on the ground at a clip of 5.8 yards per rushing attempt. Donald Butler has been an active defender for the Huskies, as he leads the club with 38 total tackles, including 4.5 TFLs. Butler also has an interception and is a true leader by example. Stanford scored three offensive touchdowns against Washington last week, and the Huskies were victimized for 424 total yards. They looked completely helpless against the run on most downs, surrendering 321 rushing yards at a clip of 6.4 yards per attempt.

The Notre Dame offense is a bit banged up, especially considering the fact that star wideout Michael Floyd is out for the remainder of the season with a broken collarbone and starting tailback Armando Allen is questionable for this tilt with a bad ankle. Jimmy Clausen, who is playing through a toe injury, may be without some weapons, but the standout quarterback has been tremendous this season and figures to continue his roll this weekend. Clausen has connected on 65.8 percent of his passes for 1,122 yards and 10 touchdowns with only one interception. Golden Tate has made 24 catches for 358 yards and three scores, while standout tight end Kyle Rudolph has 17 receptions to his credit. Allen has rushed for 326 yards, and no other player on the roster has more than 92 rushing yards. In the 24-21 victory over Purdue last Saturday, Clausen threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Rudolph with 25 seconds remaining on the clock to win the game. Clausen threw for only 171 yards and one touchdown with one interception, his worst game to date, but made the big throw when it counted most.

Defensively, Notre Dame certainly has some room for improvement. The Fighting Irish are allowing 22.2 ppg and 389.8 total ypg, numbers that would benefit from a dominant effort against Washington. Considering the fact that opponents are gaining 4.4 yards per rushing attempt and 12.3 yards per pass completion, there has been some trouble against both means of attack. With eight takeaways, the Irish have made their fair share of big plays, but a low total of six sacks through four outings is a bit concerning. Kyle McCarthy leads the club with 37 tackles and three interceptions, as he has been sensational as expected. Notre Dame permitted Purdue's quarterback to throw for 289 yards and three touchdowns last week, but the defense limited the Boilermakers to 74 rushing yards and came up with a pair of takeaways.

Playing at home, Notre Dame will get the job done against the Huskies. Eventually, Washington will earn its first-ever victory over the Irish, but it won't be this year.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Notre Dame 37, Washington 23