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FACTS & STATS: Site: Groves Stadium (31,500) -- Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Television: ABC (ESPN 2 mirror). Home Record: Notre Dame 3-2, Wake Forest 3-1. Away Record: Notre Dame 2-1, Wake Forest 2-2. Neutral Record: Notre Dame 0-0, Wake Forest 0-0.Conference Record: Notre Dame 1-0, Wake Forest 4-2. Series Record: First-ever meeting.

GAME NOTES: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will travel to Winston Salem this weekend for a clash with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, with both teams looking to gain bowl eligibility with a win.

Notre Dame bounced back from a 31-17 loss to USC with a 56-14 win over Navy in South Bend. The Irish played up-tempo offense and stifled Navy's unique triple-option offense. Saturday's game will mark the smallest venue Notre Dame has played in since 1945.

Wake Forest fell victim to five turnovers and were crushed by North Carolina 49-24 last weekend in ACC play. North Carolina scored four touchdowns off the turnovers. Wake Forest is still in the hunt in the ACC with a 4-2 record, but things don't get easier following this weekend's matchup with the Irish. The Demon Deacons will travel to Death Valley next weekend for a showdown with Clemson.

This is the first ever meeting between these two teams.

A week after Notre Dame's offensive performance was muted by costly turnovers down the stretch against USC, the Irish responded with one of their best showings of the season against Navy. Tommy Rees completed 16-of-22 passes for 237 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while three Irish runners posted 60 yards rushing or more. Michael Floyd chipped in six catches for 121 yards and one touchdown. It was the second time in three weeks that Notre Dame posted 56 points or more; the Irish exploded for 59 points against Air Force on October 8th.

Rees has a passing efficiency of 138.2, and the passing game is producing 265.8 yards per game. Rees has thrown for more than 200 yards in four of the last five games, and Floyd is ninth in the country with 7.8 receptions per game for 98.5 yards. Cierre Wood had just five yards on five carries against USC, but bounced back with 66 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries against Navy. Wood leads the team with 90.1 yards per game, and is complemented by Jonas Gray in the backfield. Gray averages 62.7 yards per outing, and has eight rushing touchdowns this season.

The Notre Dame defense rose to the challenge against Navy's triple-option offense, holding the Midshipmen to just 196 yards rushing. Navy's leading rusher, Alexander Teich, had just 62 yards on 15 carries, while the Midshipmen's passing game produced just 33 yards on 13 attempts. Notre Dame allows 173.3 yards rushing and 201.3 yards passing per game, and is 40th in the country in total defense. One of the problems for the unit has been creating turnovers, especially considering that the Irish offense is prone to give the ball away. Notre Dame has nine takeaways in eight games, while the offense has turned the ball over 20 times. Notre Dame is next to last nationally in turnover margin (-1.3). All-American candidate Manti Te'o leads the team with 82 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss.

Tanner Price struggled against North Carolina last weekend, completing 17- of-29 passes for just 146 yards, with no touchdowns and three interceptions. Receiver Michael Campanaro, who caught six balls for 88 yards against the Tar Heels, also threw an interception, as Wake Forest turned the ball over five times in an ugly performance.

It was out of character for Price, who has thrown for 1,967 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, and entered the North Carolina game with just three interceptions on the year. He has two productive receivers in Campanaro and the talented Chris Givens, who had six catches for 42 yards last week. Givens averages 6.5 catches per game for 116 yards, the latter of which is good for seventh in the country. Campanaro contributes five catches for 62 yards per game. Wake Forest ranks fourth in the ACC in passing with 275.6 yards per game.

Running back Brandon Pendergrass was perhaps the most productive offensive player a week ago, giving Wake Forest 99 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Wake Forest still only averages 104 yards rushing per game, which ranks 106th in the country and next to last in the ACC.

Wake Forest's defense was on the field for over 35 minutes against the Tar Heels, and five turnovers by the Demon Deacon offense certainly didn't help the defensive cause. Bryn Renner threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns, and the North Carolina running attack gobbled up 224 yards and four touchdowns in a dominant performance. Wake Forest ranks 56th nationally in total defense, including 89th in pass defense (244.3). The defense will face a heavy chore this week in facing Rees and the Notre Dame passing attack, and getting pressure will be important for the Demon Deacons, who average just 1.2 sacks per game. Cyhl Quarles anchors the unit, leading the team in tackles with 69. Nikita Whitlock leads the ACC with 12 tackles for loss.

Notre Dame took a step in the right direction last weekend on the defensive side of the ball, and Rees also got back into the groove after faltering in the second half against USC. Wake Forest has a decent defense, but questions abound about whether it can handle Rees, Floyd and this passing game that seems so well set up with the run. Don't be surprised if Price and the Demon Deacon offense rebounds from last week and turns this game into a shootout.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Notre Dame 34, Wake Forest 24