Notre Dame's quest to get into the national championship four-team playoffs or to land in a high-paying bowl game begins tonight just outside Washington, D.C., against Navy.

The Irish have apparently not impressed the committee that will pick the final four teams in the playoffs for the national title. Earlier this week the committee announced its first rankings of teams and the Irish landed 10th. A disappointment for many, including a ESPN college football analysis who figured ND would be in the top four.But Notre Dame can't worry about that first ranking because there are many games to be played before the final four are picked and many of the now top-ranked teams will face each other in the weeks to come. ND is included in that list as it faces Arizona State, Louisville, Northwestern, and USC this month.As I wrote last week, the loss to Florida State did not eliminate ND from the title hunt, it just put the Irish's fate in hands of others, providing ND keeps winning.The Irish must run out the November slate unbeaten, finish at 11-1 and they will have be given serious consideration for the final four. A loss in any of the next five games and the chance at a national title is over.ND's first-year defensive coordinator, Brian VanGorder, has been getting a lot of praise for his young defensive unit. The unit is not perfect but considering how young they are they have played very well in most of the seven games to date. And consider that ND will only lose transfer starter Cody Riggs and safety Austin Collinsworth to graduation among the starters, ND's defensive future is very bright.The defense has shown big improvements since a year ago. They have gone from 70th to ninth in rushing defense, 27th to eighth in scoring defense, and 96th to 65th in sacks, despite returning only two starters from last year.But tonight the VanGorder unit faces Navy's triple-option offensive attack, something ND has struggled with over the years, dating back to the Lou Holtz era. Holtz never lost to Navy but the Midshipmen gave him a lot of trouble. Charlie Weis had real trouble with Navy, being the first Irish coach to lose to them in decades. The loss to Navy that ended the long ND win streak was the beginning of the end of Weis in South Bend.VanGorder will be tested as he faces the triple-option attack, but he has had two weeks to prepare for it. VanGorder said he did face the triple-option attack, but it was 10 years ago.Navy quarterback, Keenan Reynolds, has won praise from former Navy QBs and some say he his the best QB at Navy to run the offense in 20 plus years.His stats show it. Reynolds has rushed for 775 yards on 147 carries and 11 touchdowns. That is a lot of yardage for a quarterback and a lot of carries. He has only completed 31 of 69 passes in eight games for 518 yards. Obviously, he runs, runs, runs.ND has won the last three against Navy winning by just 38-34 last year in South Bend. When Reynolds isn't running the ball Noah Copeland is. He has 603 yards on 69 carries and three TDs. The go-to guy when Navy does pass is Jamin Tillman, with 16 catches for 303 yards and a score. Navy has wins over Temple, 31-24; Texas State, 35-21; VMI, 51-14; and last week San Jose State, 41-31. The losses have been to Ohio State, 34-17; Rutgers, 31-24; Western Kentucky, 36-27; and Air Force, 30-21.ND leads the series, 74-12-1. The game will be televised nationally by CBS-TV with a 8:10 p.m. start. The game is being played in the home stadium of the NFL Washington Redskins.IRISH NOTES: I should note that last year ND played Navy without several key defensive players including nose guard Kona Schwenke, outside linebacker Ishaq Williams, and defensive end Sheldon Day. Also missing was nose guard Louis Nix, who was still recovering from a leg injury ... Safety Eilar Hardy returned to practice this week. He was one of the five players previously suspended in the academic fraud investigation. The others who were suspended, cornerback KeiVarae Russell, defensive end Ishaq Williams, wide receiver DaVaris Daniels, all starters, and reserve lineback Kendall Moore, won't be back this season. Russell and Williams have already confirmed they will return to the team next year. Moore is out of eligility and won't be back. Daniels has sent mixed signals concerning if he will be back. Russell posted on social media sites that Daniels will be back in 2015 ... Collinsworth returned to practice wearing a shoulder harness and way ahead of schedule. Head coach Brian Kelly said it is still up to the doctors when Collinsworth would be cleared to play ... Tarean Folston has risen to the top of the running back corps with his 120-yard rushing against Florida State. Kelly was quick to note that both Greg Bryant and Cam McDaniel are very much in the mix ... The starting time for the Arizona State game was announced this week. Kickoff will be 3:40 p.m. eastern time and will be televised nationally by ABC-TV ... Tonight will be the last game in the foreseeable future between ND and Navy as independents. Navy joins the American Athletic Conference next season, but will remain on ND's schedule ... ND has won the last four games coming out of a bye. Kelly is 16-2 in his career coming out of a bye week ...In my preseason picks I have the Irish winning tonight. ND is a 14 point favorite but Navy has given ND fits over the past years. With a chance of getting in the natonal title game, a week off to rest, and also a chance for an 11-1 season, I would hope that Kelly and company has the team ready.