Notre Dame's win over Pittsburgh last week kept Irish hopes alive for a place in the national championship tournament. As previously stated, the Irish must run the table to have any chance of making the final four.

The offense, led by redshirt freshman QB DeShone Kizer, is in top form. Thankfully that's the case because the defense continues to cause problems, especially the pass defense. Kizer threw five TD passes and scored one himself.The final score does not show how ND dominated Pitt in the game. The Irish have to learn to put a team away after building a substantial lead. Last week, ahead 42-17, the Irish made mistakes and got laxed on defense which led Pitt back to within 12 points. ND was fortunate that time was on its side.With C.J. Prosise injured in the first quarter with a concussion, true freshman Josh Adams filled in and did a great job. Adams rushed for 147 yards on 20 carries and was awarded the game ball by head coach Brian Kelly. Adams is a Pennsylvania product. He is from Warrington and played his high school ball for Central Bucks South. He was the focused for the press following the game and handled his time in the spotlight well, giving credit to his offensive line and teammates in general. Adams performance means he will see a lot of action today.Kelly admitted the fourth-quarter sloppiness that allowed Pitt to get within 12 will be address at practice this week.Others who had a big day was receiver Will Fuller, who caught seven for 152 yards and three TDs. Torrii Hunter is becoming another "go to" guy for Kizer. He had three catches for 37 yards and a score. His presence on the field is another problem for defenses. Amir Carlise caught four for 30 and impressed many with his hard-nose running.More on the game later.Today the Irish host Wake Forest in the final regular-season home game in South Bend. Next week's "home" game, in the Shamrock Series, will be at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, against Boston College.Wake comes into the game at 3-6 with wins over Elon, 41-3; Army, 17-14; and Boston College, 3-0. The losses have been to Syracuse, 30-17; Indiana, 31-24; Florida State, 24-16; North Carolina, 50-14; North Carolina State, 35-17; and Louisville, 20-19 last week.Althrough the Demon Deacons are 3-6 several of the six losses could have very easily been victories. Note the Florida State score.Wake uses a two-quarterback system. The QBs are Kendall Hinton, who has completed 89 of 172 with three TDs and five interceptions. John Wolford is the main quarterback. He has completed 88 of 148 with seven scores and eight interceptions. His efficiency rating is 129.13, which is good, but the eight interceptions due stand out.The Deacons leading rusher is Hinton with 423 yards on 82 carries and six scores. The top receiver is Cam Serigne with 410 yards on 38 catches and threescores and Cortez Lewes with 468 on 36 and two TDs.ND leads the series, 2-0. ND won in 2011, 24-17 at Wake and then in South Bend in 2012, 38-0.The game will be televised nationally by NBC-TV with a 3:40 p.m. kickoff.IRISH NOTES ... ND draws a crowd no matter where it goes. Last week there were 68,400 fans at the game, the most ever for a Pittsbugh game inside Heinz Field. The Temple game drew a attendance record crowd inside Lincoln Financial field .... Senior defensive end Romeo Okwara had his best game last week. He had four tackles, two sacks and a quarterback hurry. It was the first multiple-sack effort for a ND player since Matthias Farley notched two sacks against Navy .... Kicker Tyler Newsome rebounded from a poor performance in the Temple game, where he averaged only 33.8 yards per boot. Last week he had three punts go further than 50 yards and averaged 51.8 for the game. ... Scouts on hand last week included representatives of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, San Diego Charges, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers and New York Jets .... ND moved up to fourth in the championship tournament standings thanks in part to losses by LSU and Michigan State. With Wake Forest today and Boston College next week, where the Irish will be heavy favorites, the Stanford game on Nov. 28 in Stanford looms as a "play in" game for the national championship for the Irish and possibly Stanford. Unbeaten Iowa, Baylor and Oklahoma State are chasing the Irish. One writer notes the reason the Irish are ahead of those three in the rankings, in part, is due to the fact ND has played a tougher schedule ... If ND does not make the final four in the national tournament it appears they would play in the Russell Athletic Bowl on New Years Day with the Fiesta and Peach bowls also in the running ... Kelly said his staff and the team practiced the week before Pitt with special emphasis in the red zone efficiency. It apparently worked. In four red zone appearances, the Irish scored four touchdowns .... Fuller surprised many this week when he casually said after practice, that he would return to ND for his senior year. Many felt he would enter the NFL draft in the spring because his value has been rising consistently all season. Fuller told the media, "I need to graduate, and that's what I came here for." . Fuller is on track to set new ND receiving records and with another season to play, barring injuries, he will be setting a lot of new marks .... Today is the final home game as I noted and 27 ND seniors and grads will be honored .... On the injury side, junior right tackle Mike McGlinchey (sprained ankle) returned to practice Tuesday and is expected to start Saturday. Senior running back C.J. Prosise (concussion, neck) returned to practice on Thursday but did not have any contact. Kelly said his availability today is in the hands of the team doctors .... Notre Dame junior linebacker Jaylon Smith was one of eight players named Thursday as semifinalists for the Lott Impact Trophy, given annually to the nation's top college defensive player. The winner will be announced Dec. 13. Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o was the 2012 winner .... Although ND is a 26-point plus favorite today, you never take any opponent lightly. ND knows if it wants to be one of the four teams in the championship tournament it has to win the final three games. In my preseason picks I had the Irish winning today. No reason to think differently. I think the 26 point spread is too much, but I also think Kelly and his staff will have the Irish ready.