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FACTS & STATS: Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795) -- South Bend, Indiana. Television: NBC. Home Record: Navy 1-3, Notre Dame 2-2. Away Record: Navy 1-2, Notre Dame 2-1. Neutral Record: Navy 0-0, Notre Dame 0-0. Conference Record: Navy 0-0, Notre Dame 0-0. Series Record: Notre Dame leads, 71-12-1.

GAME NOTES: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Navy Midshipmen add another chapter to their annual rivalry this weekend in South Bend.

Navy opened the season with back-to-back wins to spark optimism, but the season has gone down hill in hurry since. The Midshipmen have suffered five consecutive defeats, including four by three or fewer points. Last weekend yielded yet another heartbreaker, as the club fell to East Carolina by a 38-35 final.

After opening the season with back-to-back losses by a total of seven points, Notre Dame was heavily criticized by fans and media alike. To the credit of coach Brian Kelly's team, it fought back to score four consecutive victories, including a romp over a Michigan State team that hasn't lost otherwise. Unfortunately, that winning streak came to an end last weekend, as the Fighting Irish were knocked off at home by USC, 31-17.

The Fighting Irish own a commanding 71-12-1 advantage in the all-time series, but the Midshipmen have won the last two meetings.

Navy is generating 32.1 ppg and 434.6 total ypg this season, so it is hard to blame the offense for the 2-5 record. As is always the case, the Midshipmen rely almost entirely on the run to move the ball and score points, and they are pounding out 325.1 rushing ypg at a clip of 5.7 ypc. Quarterback Kriss Proctor leads the club with 591 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, and he has thrown six scoring passes while compiling 557 yards through the air. Unfortunately, an elbow injury will likely keep Proctor out of action this weekend. While no receiver ever flourishes in the Navy offense, Brandon Turner has made the most of his nine catches, posting 228 yards and three TDs.

Against East Carolina last week, Navy tallied 420 yards of offense and scored four touchdowns, the type of effort that will yield a victory more often than not. Trey Miller took over for an injured Proctor early on in that affair and threw a pair of TDs, proving capable of leading the offense. Clearly, however, he faces a different challenge this weekend as the starter against one of the most storied programs in all of college football.

There is clearly room for improvement on the defensive side of the ball for Navy, which is allowing 30.3 ppg and 424.0 total ypg. The Mids have struggled against both means of attack, as they are yielding 198.3 rushing ypg at a clip of 4.9 ypc, and 225.7 ypg through the air. Sure, 13 takeaways have been notched, but that stat is overshadowed by the fact that 28 touchdowns have been surrendered to opposing offenses.

The Midshipmen simply must do better than the 504 total yards that they permitted East Carolina last week. Their play against the pass was downright abysmal, as the Pirates were able to complete 40-of-45 passes for 372 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Navy allowed 11-of-17 third-down conversion attempts to be successful, and gave up three rushing TDs as well.

Like Navy, Notre Dame's starting quarterback was injured last time out, but expect Tommy Rees to be on the field Saturday despite a knee ailment. Rees threw for a modest total of 190 yards last week against USC and failed to throw a touchdown while being picked off once. Star receiver Michael Floyd was a non-factor in that affair, snaring just four passes for 28 yards, and the ground game accounted for a mere 41 net yards.

Rees has thrown for 1,693 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing 65.5 percent of his passes this season, and the Fighting Irish are at their best when Floyd is heavily involved in the offense. The star wideout has 57 catches for 667 yards and four scores, but big plays have been hard to come by. As for the ground attack, Cierre Woods leads the way with 655 yards and six scores for a Notre Dame team that averages 30.1 ppg and 438.9 total ypg.

The Notre Dame defense spent nearly 40 minutes on the field last weekend, as USC racked up 443 yards, with more than 200 coming via both forms of attack. Through seven outings, the Irish are surrendering 22.4 ppg and 373.7 total ypg. Of the 16 touchdowns that have been allowed to opposing offenses, 13 have been through the air, so there is no doubt which area of the defense needs the most improvement.

A third straight loss to Navy for the Fighting Irish is highly unlikely, as the team figures to jump on top this weekend and never look back. Notre Dame is undoubtedly eager to get back on the field after the loss to USC.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Notre Dame 34, Navy 23