Friday's Fiesta Bowl between eighth-ranked Notre Dame and seventh-ranked Ohio State is the third best bowl game this year with the two semifinal national title games the top two.

The Fiesta is being called a "Big Boy Bowl" game and is a chance for head coach Brian Kelly and the Irish to make a statement as to where his program is and how it compares with the likes of the Buckeyes, Alabama, Oklahoma and Clemson. The Irish are not that far away from those teams, considering they lost two games by a total of four points.A win over the Buckeyes will give the seniors and the team some satisfaction from the disappointment of not making it to the final four, when they had right the players and schedule to make it to the top this year.Notre Dame enters at 10-2, while the Buckeyes are 11-1. The ND losses were to Clemson by two, and the final game of the regular season on the final play of the game to Stanford. Ohio State ran off 10 straight wins before losing to Michigan State, 17-14 at home.Of the 40 bowl games, none have the mock draft star power of the Fiesta Bowl.ESPN's Mel Keiper Jr., who breaks down top 10 draftable prospects by position, including those who haven't yet declared as early entries and/or those who have said they'll remain in school.With the exception of the fullback and kicked/punter position groups, which give just a few, if any, players drafted, Ohio State and Notre Dame combine for 18 players on those top 10 lists. The next closest is the Dec. 31 Cotton Bowl national semifinal with Alabama and Michigan State with 12. No one else has more than seven.In actual breakdown, Ohio State has 11 of those 18, ND seven. ND's seven are Jaylon Smith (No. 1 outside linebacker), Ronnie Stanley (No. 2 offensive tackle), C.J. Prosise (No. 3 running back), Nick Martin (No. 4 center), Will Fuller (No. 5 wide receiver), Sheldon Day, (No. 8 defensive tackle) and KeiVarae Russell (No. 9 cornerback).Kelly said his Irish players have prepared for the game with a redemption-type tone. Kelly has said, "I don't want to overdo it or overstate it, but in maybe our first couple years, when we talked about the bowl game, they were excited. There was cheering. There was none of that (this time)."Look, they're disappointed they're not in the playoffs. They're going to a great bowl and one that we're honored to be part of and excited to be playing Ohio State, and they want to play one more game. But it's a different feeling about this team and what they want to accomplish."Ohio State leads the series 3-2, winning the last three. The most recent game between the two schools was the Fiesta Bowl 10 years ago, with the Buckeyes on top 34-20. Both teams were in the top five at the time. It was not a good day for the Irish. Ohio State racked up an opponent-record 617 yards in total offense, and the shortest of its four TDs was 56 yards.Ohio State has beaten Virginia Tech, 42-24; Hawaii, 38-0; Northern Illinois, 20-13; Western Michigan, 38-12; Indiana, 34-27; Maryland, 49-28; Penn State, 38-10; Rutgers, 49-7; Minnesota, 28-14; Illinois, 28-3; and Michigan, 42-13.The Buckeyes are led by quarterbacks Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett. Jones has completed 110 of 171 passes for 1,460 yards and 18 TDs, with five interceptions. Barret is 74-for-116 for 781 yards with 10 TDs and three interceptions. The ground attack is led by Ezekiel Elliott with 19 TDs on 262 carries and 1,672 yards. Barrett has run 92 times for 586 yards and 11 scores.Top receivers are Michael Thomas with 709 yards on 49 catches and eight TDs and Jalin Marshall, 31 catches for 448 yards and five scores.The game kicks off at 1:10 p.m. on ESPN.IRISH NOTES...Some Irish players have won national recognition. Ronnie Stanley and Jaylon Smith earned consensus All-American honors. Stanley and Smith became the 82nd and 83rd consensus All-Americans in Notre Dame history. The two standouts were each named to four of the five major All-America first teams. Smith also won the Butkus Award, given to the nation's best linebacker. Manti Teo won the award in 2012 for the Irish. Stanley, who has a fifth year of eligibility, will enter the NFL draft.....Earlier this month, the Irish held their annual banquet announcing team leaders. The award winners were: Most Valuable Player - Fuller; Offensive Player of the Year - Stanley; Defensive Player of the Year - Smith; Next Man In - Prosise; Rockne Student-Athlete - Jarrett Grace, LB; Pietrosante Award - Christ Brown WR; Father Lange Iron Cross - Romeo Okwara, DE; Moose Krause Lineman of the Year - Sheldon Day; Irish Around The Bend - Joe Schmidt, LB; Offensive Lineman of the Year - Nick Martin, C; Special Teams Player of the Year - Mathias Farley, S; Newcomer of the Year Offense - DeShone Kizer, QB; and Newcomer of the Year Defense - Jerry Tillery, DT.....The Irish will welcome back some players who have missed all or part of the season, due to injuries. Jarron Jones and Durham Smythe will play tomorrow. Jones, who was projected to start at nose guard, was sidelined on Aug. 14 with a MCL tear to his right knee. Smythe started the first two games for ND but didn't finish the Virginia game and suffered a right MCL tear. He underwent surgery but has been cleared to play. Prosise, who had a high ankle sprain, is also ready along with starting outside linebacker James Onwualu, who missed the last two games due to a knee injury. Senior cornerback KeiVarae Russell, broken tibia, will not return for the game....ND's streak of playing at least one Big 10 team every year since 1917 won't be broken this year after all with Ohio State. ND will resume game against Big 10 competition next year at home with Michigan State, away at Michigan State in 2017, and away at Norhtwestern in 2018...ND submitted, per rules, five players who could decide to enter the NFL draft. As noted, Stanley has already said he will enter the draft. The others are Smith, Russell, Prosise and Fuller. Fuller recently recanted from a commitment made earlier this season when he said he would return. After the Stanford game Fuller said he was rethinking his options. The others are expected to go....Tohe Fiesta Bowl is an important test and game for this Irish, which feel it let itself, fans and school down by not making the final four. It is a chance to make a statement. Ohio State is a six-point favorite, as the Buckeyes should be. I think the problems the Irish have had in the red zone this year on offense will come back to haunt them. Also, I'm still very worried about a defensive unit that should have led the way this year but broke down many times during the season, especially giving up the big plays. Those breakdowns cost two wins. I have to go with Ohio State based on those two factors. Thanks for reading this column for the past season and I hope to be back next year.