FACTS & STATS: Site: Stanford Stadium (85,500) -- Stanford, California. Television: ESPN2. Home Record: Notre Dame 1-6, Stanford 1-5. Away Record: Notre Dame 1-3, Stanford 2-2. Neutral Record: Notre Dame 0-0, Stanford 0-0. Conference Record: Notre Dame 0-0, Stanford 2-6. Series Record: Notre Dame leads, 15-6.

GAME NOTES: Coming off just their second win in what has been the most miserable season in program history, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish wrap up their schedule on the road against the Stanford Cardinal. Notre Dame notched a 28-7 win over Duke last weekend to snap the longest home losing streak in school history. Notre Dame's nine losses on the season are also the most in school history, as the victory ended a four-game slide for the Irish. Stanford has endured similar struggles, with losses in three straight games, and in four of the last five overall. The Cardinal were idle last weekend, and figure to be well rested as they search for just their second home victory of the season. Stanford wraps up its season with another home game next week against Pac-10 rival California. Notre Dame has a 15-6 edge in the head-to-head series with Stanford, which includes victories in five straight meetings for the Irish.

If there is any good news for Notre Dame's 119th-ranked total offense, it's that freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen appears to be finding a bit of a comfort level with the offense. In the second half of the Air Force game two weeks ago, Clausen completed 17-of-29 passes for 192 yards and two TDs. He threw for 194 yards and three scores in last week's win over Duke. Coach Charlie Weis suggested that sitting out for the previous two games not only enabled the young quarterback to get healthy, but also slowed the game down for Clausen. Of course, it also helped that running back Robert Hughes took some pressure off with 110 rushing yards.

Although it was against a one-win Duke team, the Irish defense can take solace in the fact that they held the Blue Devils to just 232 total yards. Duke went just 4-of-16 on third downs and held the ball for only 24 minutes. The Notre Dame defense also recovered two fumbles. While the Irish have been solid against the pass this season -- they rank third in the country in pass defense -- the team has struggled mightily against the run. Notre Dame is allowing a hair under 200 rushing yards per game, as opponents have frequently foregone the passing game in the interest of picking up huge chunks of yards on the ground. Last week was a big statement game in that the Irish held the Blue Devils under 100 rushing yards for the game.

It was six games ago that Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh inserted sophomore quarterback Tavita Pritchard into the starting lineup in place of T.C. Ostrander. Now with an additional two weeks of rest and film study, Pritchard is coming off a game in which he set career-highs in pass attempts (40), completions (22) and yards (236). At the same time, he has had his struggles. He is completing only 50 percent of his passes, and has thrown nearly twice as many interceptions (seven) as touchdowns (four). The Cardinal rank 106th in the nation in total offense (322.7 ypg) and 104th in scoring offense (20.1 ppg).

As much as they've struggled on offense this season, the Cardinal have also had their fair share of problems on defense as well. They are yielding 455.3 total yards per game, which ranks 106th. And they are allowing an average of 30.5 ppg, which ranks 84th. Two weeks ago, the Cardinal allowed Washington State to pile up 27 first downs and 561 yards of total offense. WSU quarterback Alex Brink completed 32 passes and finished with 449 yards through the air. Stanford allowed two 100-yard receivers in the game, and nearly a third, as Michael Bumpus finished with 96 yards.

Neither team is playing for anything other than bragging rights in this one. With that, Stanford's home-field advantage will be minimal. Look for Weis to set his freshman quarterback loose, in the hope that a big game will carry over into next year.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Notre Dame 38, Stanford 27

Saturday, November 24th, 3:30 p.m. (et)