Notre Dame gears up for another Top 15 game against NC State

Notre Dame's game against USC this past weekend was the first of a loaded second half of the 2017 schedule, as five of the final six games match the Irish against teams that have been ranked at some point this season.

The 49-19 victory over USC put Notre Dame back in the national conversation, and back in the Top 10 of national rankings for the first time since 2015. If they can win out, all expectations indicate that the Irish will have a solid case to make the College Football Playoff. However, with all of the recent attention, Brian Kelly said Tuesday that he expects the team to stay on task.

"Winning this year [against USC] in the fashion that we did is indicative of all the work that they put in over the past year," Kelly said. "You get to that point, you certainly don't want to start doing something different ... they know how they got to where they are. They certainly want to continue to be in this position."

In order to stay in that position, the Irish will need to pick up yet another big win on Saturday, as they host 14th-ranked North Carolina State.

When these two teams met in 2016, they played while the outer bands of Hurricane Matthew traveled through Raleigh. Offense was understandably difficult for both teams, as the Wolfpack won the game, 10-3. 

While coaches often look at film of past meetings to prepare for what is to come, Brian Kelly said last year's game film was nearly useless due to the conditions.

"We didn't even look at the film," he said. "It wasn't even part of our breakdown, because it really didn't give us anything. It was a poorly designed game plan by me. There was nothing that we really wanted to go back and look at."

Saturday's game is set to kick off shortly after 3:30 p.m. and ABC57 will be previewing the game as always on ABC57 Saturday Kickoff from 10 a.m. until noon.