The Hunt for Mid-October

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Mid-October always provides the most memorable college football games.

There's the Red River Rivalry in Dallas, which always takes place between October 10th and 20th.

There used to be the annual TSIO (Third Saturday In October) battle between Alabama and Tennessee.

And in South Bend, in odd-numbered years, there's USC at Notre Dame.

October 18, 1924. Arguably the most important date in college football lore. That was the date when Grantland Rice dreamt up his overhyped "Four Horsemen" lead because, in truth, the 13-7 Notre Dame win versus Army at the Polo Grounds was devoid of top plays. Meanwhile in Champaign, Ill., Red Grange took the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown against Michigan, a team that entered the game with a 20-game win streak. Grange added three more touchdown runs of 67, 56 and 44 yards in the game's opening 12 minutes. Four touchdowns in the first quarter, which was twice as many TDs as the Wolverines had allowed in the previous two seasons.

October 15, 1988. Notre Dame 31, Miami 30. Still the greatest home game in Notre Dame history.

October 15, 2005. The Bush Push in South Bend. In Ann Arbor Michigan ended Penn State's undefeated season when Chad Henne connected with Mario Manningham for a touchdown on a play that began with 0:01 left for a 27-25 victory. Meanwhile in Morgantown, a redshirt freshman named Pat White came off the bench with the Mountaineers trailing by 17 in the fourth quarter and led his team to victory in three overtimes. It was a Saturday in which you needed to ice your remote-thumb afterward.

Which brings us to today.

No. 20 Oklahoma at No. 3 Texas in the first-ever battle between two players who finished 1-2 in the previous year's Heisman Trophy race (that would be Sooner QB Sam Bradford and Longhorn QB Colt McCoy, of course).

No. 4 Virginia Tech at No. 19 Georgia Tech in a matchup between the ACC's two best teams. Not a few people in Los Angeles and even Boise will be rooting for the Rambling Wreck.

No. 11 Iowa at Wisconsin in a game that could completely knock the Big Ten out of the BCS Championship game race.

No. 22 South Carolina at No. 2 Alabama ... Roll Tide, tsunami-style. Same with No. 1 Florida over Ryan Mallett and the Hogs in the Swamp.

And, finally, in South Bend, No. 6 USC at No. 25 Notre Dame. This is a game in which the pundits seem to agree that the Fighting Irish need to at least keep it close to salvage the Charlie Weis era. Said ESPN analyst Todd McShay on Saturday morning, "I like USC ... BIG!"

Never have the Irish welcomed more big-name recruits to campus for one game. Some two dozen or so four- and five-star high school seniors will be sitting in the front rows of Section 31 of Notre Dame Stadium. Weis has even canceled his regularly scheduled Sunday afternoon press conference because, in his words, he has appointments with recruits from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. If the Irish get blown out, it'll be a long, long Sunday for Weis. But if they pull out the upset, those nine hours will fly past.