Giving the ball away five times against a 7-1 football team that is in the same championship hunt as you won't cut it. And you won't win the game.

That is what Notre Dame did last week in losing to Arizona State, 55-31. In adding up the points Notre Dame scored 59 points in the game, 31 of its own and 28 for Arizona State.The loss, of course, knocks Notre Dame out of the race for a shot at the national title. ND dropped from 10th to 18th in the poll while ASU moved up to sixth.The loss lands of the shoulders of two people, quarterback Everett Golson and coach Brian Kelly. In a the span of four minutes Golson turned the ball over three times that led to 21 Arizona State points. He was intercepted a total of four times, two of which led directly to Sun Devil scores. He was also sacked seven times, blame that on the offensive line.Kelly gets some blame too. He saw his QB was falling apart with the turnovers. Instead of pulling him out of the game for a series or two to let Golson calm down, he stayed with the him and it led to more turnovers and a big ASU lead.In the second half, after the Irish moved to within three, 34-31, the defense failed to step up and put a stop to the Sun Devils.The defense has become a real concern. After leading the team to victories in the first five games, the defense is giving up a lot of points. The "D" has given up 168 points since their slide began in the North Carolina game that's an average of 42 points a game the last four games.Golson stood up and took full blame for the loss because of his turnovers. But for how many games are we going to hear him say he'll do better, work harder in practice and protect the ball better. A total 17 turnovers for Golson in the last six games really stands out. The Florida State game was stolen from the Irish by the officials. Last week the Irish (Golson) did it to themselves.Today ND hosts a Nortwestern team that just lingers out there. After losing their first two the Wildcats won three straight and appeared to have found themselves. Then they went on a losing streak and have lost four in a row coming into today's game.The Wildcats problems are on offense. Right now they are struggling, with a 109.9 rush average per game and 212.8 yards passing per game. The pluses for the Wildcats is they play pass defense very well and they force turnovers on defense. With Golson's problems in those areas, look out today.The Wildcats enter at 3-6 with wins over Western Illinois, 24-7; Penn State, 29-6; and Wisconsin, 20-14. The losses have been to California, 31-24; Northern Illinois, 23-15; Minnesota, 24-17; Nebraska, 38-17; Iowa, 48-7; and last week Michigan, 10-9.The Wildcats are led by QB Trevor Siemian, who has completed 191 passes out of 332 for five scores and eight interceptions. Rushing leaders are Justin Jackson, 778 yards on 175 carries and five TDs and Treyvon Green, 169 on 47. Top receivers are Kyle Prater, 372 yards on 37 receptions and one score and Dan Vital, 323 on 32 and a TD.ND leads the series 37-8-2. The last time the Irish and Wildcasts played was in 1995 and Northwestern upset the ninth ranked Irish, 17-15.The game will be televised nationally by NBC-TV with a 3:40 EST kickoff.IRISH NOTES ... Some Arizona State game stats. ND had 484 total yards to 412 for the Sun Devils. But ND had only 41 rushing yards to 188 for ASU. Passing had the Irish with a 446-224 advantage. That rush total is partly due to the fact ND fell behind to fast so far that the Irish had to pass more. Golson completed 22 of 41 passes for 446 yards and two scores. Rushing was little as I noted with Tarean Folston getting just 30 yards on 11 carries. Folson sat the second half as Cam McDaniel came in. Folson's poor blocking on pass plays was the reason he sat. McDaniel is a better blocker. Receiving had Will Fuller catching six for 95 yards, and a score; Amir Carlisle, three for 92 and a score; Corey Robinson, three for 57; and C.J Prosies, two for 85. Kyle Brindza was one for one in field goals, hitting a 46 yarder. Defensively Max Redfield was the leader with 10 tackles followed by Jaylon Smith with eight ... Kelly is one win short of becoming the first ND coach to begin his Notre Dame tenure with five-straight eight-win seasons ... With 21 sacks given up so far, ND has already hit a Kelly era high for the most in a season and have 13 more than in 2013 with Tommy Rees at QB ... NDs opponent today is 99th in sacks which may help the offensive line regroup after last week. They'll have to because next week's opponent, Louisville, is 11th nationally in sacks ... Kelly announced that backup quarterback Malik Zaire is the new holder for field goals replacing Hunter Smith, who has mishandled three snaps this season ... Despite the problems of late the Irish defense remains in the top 50 nationally at 44th but are dropping quickly ... ND is still in the hunt for a spot in a top-tier Dec. 31-Jan. 1 bowl game - Peach, Cotton or Fiesta. But, of course, must win their last three to get that chance. The same committee who picks the four finalists also picks the teams for these three bowls ... ND has won 17 of its last 18 games in South Bend. Today is the last Big 10 team ND will face until the 2016 season when Michigan State returns for a two game set. That's barring the Irish and a Big 10 team playing in a bowl game. Next season will be the first time since 1914 that ND does not have a Big 10 school on the schedule ... Cornerback Cody Riggs, foot injury, and safety Austin Collinsworth, shoulder, who both missed the ASU game, will play today ... South Bend got seven inches of snow Thursday and today conditions are expected to be cold ... ND is favored by 17 today and in my preseason picks I have the Irish winning. The Irish should win providing they don't turn the ball over like last week, and the defense finds itself and returns to playing the way it did earlier in the season.