After playing its best game of the season last week, Notre Dame has to prove today that it was no fluke. The Irish completely dominated the then 15th ranked Utah Utes last week in winning 28-3, and holding one of the most potent offenses in the country to just a field goal.

Tonight the Irish "host" Army at the new Yankee Stadium and Brian Kelly and staff want to prove that last week was for real. The problem with tonight's opponent is that the Cadets run the same type of triple-option offense that Navy runs. Irish fans won't soon forget what happened on Oct. 23 at the new Meadowlands when the Middies dominated the Irish en route to a lopsided, 35-14, victory. It was the worst loss by a ND team to Navy since 1963 and the worst loss for the Irish in many, many years.So, natuarally, the question is has Kelly, and defensive coordinator Bob Diaco, solved the option offense enough to contain Army. More on the Utah game later.The game tonight is a major event for the New York area. It is the first football game to be played at the new Yankee Stadium. The game also brings back memories of some memorial games played by ND and Army at the old Yankee Stadium.The game is the 50th meeting between the schools and the first since 2006 when ND won in South Bend, 41-9. The last time Army won was in 1958. ND has won 13 straight in the series, which has not been continuous since the early 1960s.Three legendary games were played by the teams at the old Yankee Stadium, in 1913, 1928 and 1946. In each the two teams entered either unbeaten or both highly ranked. ND leads the overall series at 37-8-4. The two teams played 22 games of the series at the old stadium. The Irish are 15-6-3 in the old stadium, and 14-5-3 against Army at the stadium. The other two games played by the Irish at the old stadium were with North Carolina in 1949 and Syracuse in 1963.Because of the backdrop of the memorial games played between the two teams at the old stadium, Kelly has decided that the Irish will wear their green jerseys tonight. Although I think it's a bad move, I understand the reasoning. ND is 5-5 when wearing the green jerseys.Army enters the game at 6-4 with wins over Eastern Michigan, 31-27; North Texas, 24-0; Duke, 35-21, Tulane, 41-23, VMI, 29-7; and Kent State, 45-28. The four losses have been to Hawaii, 31-28; Temple, 42-35; Rutgers, 23-20; and Air Force, 42-22.The triple-option attack is keyed around the quarterback and Army has a good one in Trent Steelman. He has rushed for 671 yards on 154 carries and 11 touchdowns. Jared Hassin backs him up with 861 yards on 150 carries and nine scores along with Patrick Maley with 379-80-two. Passing wise Steelman has completed 56 of 99 attempts with only one interception and five TDs. Top receivers are Austin Barr with 13 catches for 202 yards and three TDs, Hassin 11 for 144 and Jordan George, 11 for 115.Army averages 273.8 yards per game rushing which ranks them eighth in the nation.The game will be televised nationally by NBC-TV since it is a ND home game.IRISH NOTES:Although the game comes on at 7 p.m., NBC is having a special half hour pregame show. The actual kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.As I mentioned this is a big weekend in New York. ND has a very large fan base in the New York area, over 8,000 alumni in the metro area plus thousands of subway alumni. There are plenty of events planned to make it like a home game. There will be a ND luncheon, similar to what is held before ND home games in South Bend. Headlining the New York affair will be ND president Rev. John I. Jenkins, Kelly, ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick, former Heisman Trophy winner John Lujack, former Army Heisman Trophy winner Pete Dawkins, and TV personality and ND graduate Regis Philbin. It will be held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on Broadway and starts at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. There is a pep rally scheduled for Friday, 5:30 to 6:15 p.m., at the Josie Robertson Plaza on the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on New York's Upper West Side. Kelly, today's game captains, former Irish star and current New York Giant Justin Tuck and the ND marching band will be there. TV sports broadcaster Don Criqui, another ND grad, will be the emcee. Also, the band will hold a concert from noon to 12:45 p.m. in Times Square on Saturday. And finally, there will be a ND tailgate party at the Sheraton New York, beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday. The game and ticket prices for it have been the product of the New York Yankees organization who is sponsoring the game. Many have complained of the prices. The cheapest ticket is $125 and next price up is $175. Yankee officials said they originally planned to seat 52,235 but due to demand, the ticket sale total is now 54,251 with standing room ducats going for $175....Last week's win was the first "senior day" win at ND stadium since 2005 and that fact may have contributed to the student body pouring onto the field after the game....Some other notables about the win. ND broke a streak of 11 straight losses to ranked teams; it was the highest-rated team the Irish had beaten since before the current players entered school; it was the fewest points allowed by the Irish against a AP Top 20 team since Jan. 1, 1993, Cotton Bowl win over Nov. 4 Texas A&M; it was the fewest points Utah has scored since losing 17-0 to UNLV in September 2007, a span of 45 games; it was ND's largest margin of victory against a AP Top 20 team since Oct. 12, 1996, when the Irish beat Washington, 54-20....It was also a big day for freshman QB Tommy Rees, who had to play with no less than seven starters from its opening-day lineup missing due to injuries. For the day he was 13 of 20 for 129 yards, three TDs and no interceptions. In two games now Rees has seven TD passes which are the most ever for a Irish freshman QB in two games. Receiving: Michael Floyd had four catches for 39 yards and a TD; Duval Kamara, the forgotten TE, caught two for 38 and two TDs; and Cierre Wood, two for 25. Rushing, Wood finished with 71 yards on 19 carries with Jonas Gray getting 44 yards on three and Robert Hughes four for 21....The blocked punt by Robert Blanton in the first quarter turned out to be the spark that ND needed. Hopefully that carries to today and next week at Southern California....Some of the success last week was due to the play of the defense and special teams....ND needs one more win to be eligible for a bowl game. Although I don't think a 6-6 or 7-5 ND team should go to a bowl game, Kelly and staff want it more for the 15 extra practices the NCAA allows a team playing in a bowl game. Speaking of bowl games, there are 35 this year, including two new ones, the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas and the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee stadium. All that means is there are 70 teams that are going to get bowl bids....According to Eric Hansen, beat writer for the South Bend Tribune, ND's bowl propects are as follows. A 7-5 Irish will probably go to the Champs Sports Bowl, Dec. 28, in Orlando, Fla., against a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. A 6-6 Irish team makes the situation very much up in the air. Hansen wrote a 6-6 team must wait until all 7-5 teams get to go to the best available bowls. A pre-Christmas bowl game probably will not suit ND because of final exams. Charlie Weis was able to convince the ND administration to let his team for the the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24, but that probably won't be allowed this year. Hansen list the following bowls as the ones ND will be considered for, but which one, is anyones guess, if the Irish are 6-6. The bowls are the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Jan. 9; TicketCity Bowl in Dallas Cowboys stadium on Dec. 31; Little Caesar's Bowl on Dec. 26 at Ford Field in Detroit; the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 30, the BBVA Compass Bowl on Jan. 8 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., and the Military Bowl, at RFK stadium in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 29....Starting linebacker Carlo Calabese, who has missed the last two games, will play tonight according to Kelly. Freshman WR TJ Jones has practiced all week and will play tonight. Calabese's replacement the last two games, senior Brian Smith, led the team in tackles last week with 10....Kamara's use in the Utah game showed that Kelly is trying to get more receivers in the mix due to injuries to other receivers. Theo Riddick, ankle injury, is still out but might be ready for USC game. Nose tackle Ian Williams, knee, who has been out for the past three games, probably won't play in the final two games....ND has moved up 19 spots to No. 39 in the Sagarin ratings following the Utah win. ND's two final opponents are rated at 81st for Army and 14th for USC....According to a report the game today was spearheaded by the late George Steinbrenner owner of the Yankees. He met with then coach Charlie Weis at the Yankee spring trianing camp in Florida. Weis, a big Yankee fan, asked Steinbrenner why there were no football games scheduled for the new stadium. Steinbrenner, who was a Irish fan, then got his top management people working on getting the Irish to play a game at the stadium....After last week's win, ND fans are again excited. We are a faithful lot and dedicated to the Irish. Kelly and his stall surely knows the importance of a win tonight. Kelly wants to shutdown Army's offense who show that he knows how to handle the triple option. ND is favored by eight. My pick is the Irish because I think Kelly and staff really want this one bad.