Sloppy field in rain for Stanford-Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame is wearing its shiny gold helmets today, which comes in handy since it might be hard to see much else today.

Quite frankly, it's just miseraqble outside at Notre Dame Stadium, and it's likely to continue that way through the entire afternoon as the No. 7 Fighting Irish try to stay undefeated, facing No. 17 Stanford. Although the rain seems to have let up for a bit, a heavy system seems to be parked over South Bend for the moment, and some heavier downpours are expected and maybe even a thunderstorm later on.

How weather will impact the game is unknown, but when you're talking about two teams that have relied on defense and played field-position football all season, it's reasonable to expect a conservative game-plan from both and very few big plays.

That would seem to suit Notre Dame just fine. But what the Irish lack in electricity they make up for in physicality. Their defense hasn't allowed a touchdown in three consecutive games, against Michigan, Michigan State and Miami, which is quite impressive given the competition. It will be interesting to see how the Irish stack up against Stanford, which remains a very good football team despite stubbing its toe against Washington a few weeks ago.

Had Stanford won that game, this would be a titanic battle of unbeatens, but it's still a big one for Notre Dame. With BYU coming up at home next week, the Irish have an opportunity to be 7-0 (and possibly No. 1 in the BCS standings) heading to Oklahoma on Oct. 27.

Notre Dame might not be the best team in the country, but its record doesn't appear to be a fluke. Stanford is probably the toughest, most complete team the Irish have played thus far, and this is a huge hurdle to stay in the national title conversation. Notre Dame might have to win uglier than usual given the weather, but that's something this program -- after a string of subpar seasons -- won't mind at all.