Notre Dame's football team had two weeks now to heal injuries and head coach Brian Kelly had the two weeks to try and figure out what has happened to his potent offense.

Sure ND scored 30 points against a Purdue team that was 27 point underdogs, but is was a real struggle. If it wasn't for the Irish defense regrouping at halftime the Boilermakers could have pull the upset of the season.Not all of ND's injured in the Purdue game will be available tonight as the Irish take on the Syracuse Orange at the MetLife stadium in the Meadowlands, N.J., home of the pro football Giants. We'll update the injury report later in the column.The Irish, 3-0, need to be ready tonight and concentrate on the problem at hand. ND needs a good game tonight as it heads into its "killer" October schedule that includes Stanford next week, followed by North Carolina, and then number one Florida State.Kelly is trying to find the running game that left after the Rice game. After racking up 281 yards rushing against Rice, the Irish struggled against Michigan with just 54 yards rushing in that game and 139 in the Purdue contest. In an effort to find a solution to the problem with the offensive line, Kelly has made changes up front for tonight. They include having graduate student right tackle Christian Lombard and sophomore right guard Steve Elmer flipping positions; and senior center Nick Martin will move to left guard, with senior guard Matt Hegarty taking over at center. Only starting offensive lineman junior left tackle Ronnie Stanley will stay put.These changes were not only made to help the run game return but to protect Golson, who has been sacked six times in three games, two fewer than all of last season. He probably would have had more but his running ability helped him avoid other sacks. Syracuse is the top sacking team on the ND schedule, rated ninth in the nation.Syracuse enters the game at 2-1 with wins over Villanova, 27-26, in two overtimes, and Central Michigan, 40-3. The Orange lost last week to Maryland, 34-20.Leading the rushing is quarterback Terrel Hunt, with 39 carries for 282 yards and five touchdowns. P.j. Gulley backs him up with 258 yards on 32 carries and a score. Hunt has completed 44 of 75 passes for 488 yards in three games and one TD. Top receiver is Jarrod West with eight catches and 133 yards. The other top receiver, Ashton Broyld, who has 11 catches for 125 yards, was injured last week and won't play tonight.Obviously, the Orange don't pass a lot and Hunt is more of a running quarterback than a passing one which will challenge the ND linebackers.The series is tied at 3-3 with Syracuse winning the last meeting in 2008 in South Bend, 24-23, after ND blew a lead. It was one of coach Charlie Weis' "brilliant" performances.The game will be televised nationally by ABC-TV with a 8:10 p.m. scheduled kickoff.The week after the Purdue game ND practice lightly on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday the assistant coaches and Kelly hit the recruiting trail all across the country.According to published reports, ND has extended more than 50 offers for the 2016 class. Among those on the ND wish list are WR Trevon Sidney, 5-11, 160, of La Puente, Calif., a four-star prospect. ND is battling Miami, Arizona, UCLA, USC, and Washington for him. CB Kristian Fulton, 6-0, 170 from Metaire, La., Archbishop Rummel H.S., is a four-star prospect with offers also from LSU, Georgia, Texas A&M, and UCLA. Next is WR Tavares Chase, 6-2, 173, from Bradenton, Fla., IMG Academy, a four-star prospect with offers from Auburn, Florida, Florida State, and Ohio State. WR Ahmir Mitchell, 6-2, 197, Egg Harbor, N.J, Cedra Creek H.S., a four-star prospect with offers also from Florida State, Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers. DE Jonathan Cooper, 6-3, 218, Gahanna (Ohio) Lincoln, four-star prospect also sought by Ohio State, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Toledo. Finally, WR Binjimen Victor, 6-4, 170, Coconut Creek, Fla., High, four-star prospect with offers also from Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, and Ohio State.IRISH NOTES: Now here is the latest on the injuries. Slot receiver Amir Carlisle, who injured his right knee in the Purdue game was expected back this week but will not play tonight. The healing process is taking longer for ND's second leading receiver. Back just in time is WR Torii Hunter Jr. He is ready to play tonight. C.J. Prosise will start in Carlisle's spot, but Hunter will be his backup. Expect Hunter to play . Austin Collinsworth, who injured his knee two days before the Rice opener, will be ready to return to the lineup tonight. Junior Elijah Shumate had been his replacement and has done a very creditable job. Shumate will remain the starter but Collinsworth is ready.....QB Everett Golson has caught the eye of NFL scouts and is now being mentioned in Heisman Trophy talks, but only on a limited basis. Accuracy is what is making Golson's stock rise. He has thrown 91 passes without an interception and against Purdue his first nine attempts were completions ... ND's last appearance in the MetLife stadium is a forgettable one. The Irish were manhandled in that game on Oct. 23, 2010, by Navy, 35-17. The Irish were never in the game while Navy ran up 367 yards, the most in the series between the two longtime foes ... The Irish are ranked 17th in turnovers gained, up from 103rd in 2013, and are third in scoring defense, up from 27th last year ... ND announced that the Irish will play Texas A&A in 2024 and 2015. They also announced scheduled games with Texas in 2019 and 2020 have been canceled. The Longhorns and ND will play in 2015 and 2016.... The latest on the five suspended players is that they will finally having their hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. The hearing is before a committee composed of faculty and students ...There will be a lot of local people at the game tonight. At least two buses are running out of SchuylkilI County, including one from Tamaqua, and two out of Summit Hill....I picked the Irish to win tonight in my preseason selections. The line started 12 1/2 points in favor of ND, but is now done to nine. That is not really much considering the two opponents Syracuse beat are not very impressive. I'll stay with the Irish, but ND can't be looking ahead to Stanford next week.