Navy @ Notre Dame preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 1, 2014 ) Notre Dame 49, Navy 39

Notre Dame came within a two-point conversion of forcing overtime at Clemson last week and is looking to quickly put that heartbreak behind it. The 15th-ranked Fighting Irish will attempt to do just that when they host Navy on Saturday.

Notre Dame had several chances to take control of the game last week but committed a pair of turnovers late in the fourth quarter before scoring a touchdown and getting stuffed on the two-point conversion in the 24-22 setback. "(The team) can't let an opportunity like this ever slip through their hands again," Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly told reporters. "Every single weekend you're playing elimination football, so they know that and that's the reality of where they are right now and they clearly understand what they need to do each and every week." Navy presents a different type of challenge with its triple-option attack and has given Notre Dame problems in the past. The Midshipmen are averaging 339.8 yards on the ground and come into the weekend undefeated.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC. LINE: Notre Dame -14.5

ABOUT NAVY (4-0): Quarterback Keenan Reynolds leads the option attack and comes in with nine rushing touchdowns to go along with a pair of passing scores. The senior ran for 183 yards in a 33-11 victory over Air Force last week and is looking for his first win over the Fighting Irish after coming up just short – 38-34 in 2013 and 49-39 in 2014 – in the last two tries. The Midshipmen are also potent on defense, where they are limiting opponents to an average of 15 points and have forced a total of nine turnovers in the first four contests.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (4-1): The Fighting Irish should be well-prepared for an option attack after claiming a 30-22 win over Georgia Tech in Week 3 and are not starting from scratch defensively. "We were able to work on maybe some of the nuances that you can't work on when you're just trying to figure out how to line up," Kelly told reporters of preparing this week. "So I think that there's certainly some things that we're going to have to tweak a little bit, but I can tell you that I'd much rather have already have played Georgia Tech and played an option offense than not have played any.” Notre Dame could use its own rushing attack to keep Navy off the field, and C.J. Prosise will need to bounce back after rushing for a season-low 50 yards on 15 carries last week.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Reynolds (73) needs four rushing TDs to tie former Wisconsin great Montee Ball for the career NCAA record.

2. The Midshipmen have won eight straight and 10 of 11, with the lone loss in that span coming against Notre Dame.

3. The Fighting Irish have taken four straight in the series.

PREDICTION: Notre Dame 35, Navy 31