Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 13.

Game of the week: No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-0) at USC Trojans (7-4, 5-4 Pac-12), Saturday, 8 p.m., WJET (ABC).

Pregame rant: This is pretty simple. The Irish win, they’re playing for a national title.

Notre Dame hasn’t won it all since the 1988 season, but hasn’t really contended for one since 1989 when it lost to No. 1 Colorado in the 1990 Orange Bowl.

So for the Irish, this is a long time coming. For USC, this is a season it’d like to forget.

The Trojans have lost four games, their best player – quarterback Matt Barkley – is out with a shoulder injury and they’re coming off a 38-28 loss to in-town rival UCLA.

Beating the Irish would sure wipe the slate clean for USC.

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Let’s recap Week 12, shall we?

Game of the week: No. 14 Stanford at No. 1 Oregon

Final score: Cardinal 17, Ducks 14 (OT)

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Let us recap Week 3, shall we?

Game of the week: No. 2 USC at No. 21 Stanford

Final score: Cardinal 21, Trojans 14.

Pregame rant: The Cardinal want to prove they’ve been more than Andrew Luck, but they’re going to need a lot of luck to get past the Trojans.

Barkley has 10 touchdown passes to only one interception and has only been sacked twice, but the Trojans haven’t been tested. If Stanford can take an early lead, it will be interesting to see how Barkley fares when the defense knows he’s passing.

Post-game commentary: No Luck needed in this one. The Cardinal pounded out 202 yards rushing with senior Stephan Taylor going for 153 and a score on 27 carries. As for Barkley, he was just 20-of-41 for 254 yards, no touchdowns and two picks.

The good news for USC is it lost early. The bad news is the Trojans still have to play Oregon. A loss Nov. 3 to the Ducks will end all hopes of an opportunity to play for a national title.

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Let us recap Week 2, shall we?

Game of the week: No. 7 Georgia at Missouri

Final score: Bulldogs 41, Tigers 20

Pregame rant: Sheldon Richardson set it off by describing Georgia as playing “old-man football” following the Bulldogs’ 45-23 win against Buffalo.

“I watched that game. I turned it off, too,” said Richardson in a story by the Columbia Tribune. “It’s like watching Big Ten football. It’s old-man football.”

That’s big words, big fella.

Post-game commentary: The ‘Dawgs welcomed the Tigers into the SEC with a harsh dose of “grown-man football” as Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray called it. Georgia forced three turnovers and scored the game’s last 24 points to prevail.

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Let us recap Week 1, shall we?

Game of the week: No. 24 Boise State Broncos at No. 13 Michigan State Spartans

Final score: Spartans 17, Broncos 13.

Pregame rant: Since stunning Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, the Broncos have been giant killers. They’ve recently had signature victories against Texas Christian (2010 Fiesta Bowl), Virginia Tech (2010 opener) and Georgia (2011 opener).

What do all four of those wins have in common? They were on a neutral field.  With quarterback Kellen Moore now gone, can’t wait to see how Boise State does in East Lansing against the Spartans, who were 7-0 at home last season.

Post-game commentary: This game shows just how important a quarterback is to a mid-major. Last season, Moore wins that game for the Broncos. Junior Joe Southwick was just 15-of-31 for 169 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.

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The college football season is here.

So you already know the deal. Let’s get to predicting, shall we?

These games are worth watching:

No. 24 Boise State at No. 13 Michigan State (Friday, 8 p.m., ESPN).

Pregame rant: Since stunning Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, the Broncos have been giant killers. They’ve recently had signature victories against Texas Christian (2010 Fiesta Bowl), Virginia Tech (2010 opener) and Georgia (2011 opener).

What do all four of those wins have in common? They were on a neutral field.

The Georgia win was in Atlanta, but that game might have had a different outcome had it been played between the hedges in Athens. With quarterback Kellen Moore now gone, can’t wait to see how Boise State does in East Lansing against the Spartans, who were 7-0 at home last season.

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Let us recap Week 12, shall we?

No. 10 USC (9-2, 6-2 Pac-12) at No. 9 Oregon (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12)

Pregame rant: After putting up 53 at Stanford, Oregon returns home to take the Trojans.  USC sophomore receiver Robert Woods, who has 92 catches for 1,126 yards and 11 touchdowns, will get his shots to make big plays, but Oregon has too many offensive weapons.

Postgame commentary: Turns out the Trojans had the greatest equalizer in its 38-35 win at Oregon – a hot quarterback. Junior Matt Barkley was 26-of-34 for 323 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception. Woods caught two of those scores, but freshman Marqise Lee tore up the Ducks with eight catches for 187 yards and a touchdown. Oregon’s valiant fourth-quarter comeback came up short.

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Let us recap Week 9, shall we?

No. 4 Stanford (8-0, 6-0 Pac-12) at No. 21 USC (6-2, 3-2 Pac-12)

Pregame rant: Got two future NFL quarterbacks – Stanford’s Andrew Luck and USC’s Matt Barkley – going head to head. USC is coming off a big win at Notre Dame. The Trojans are at home. Hard to sleep on this one, but Luck is so so good that he’ll make it look too easy against the Trojans. USC has got some talent, but Luck will show how good he really is.

Postgame commentary: Luck needed three overtimes to push Stanford past USC, 56-48. He was 29-of-40 for 330 yards, three touchdowns, but being able to shake off a fourth-quarter interception USC returned for a score to take a 34-27 lead and lead the Cardinal to game-tying touchdown drive to force overtime shows why he’ll be the top pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

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Let us recap Week 8, shall we?

No. 12 Wisconsin (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) at No. 9 Michigan State (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten)

Pregame rant: Michigan State has the tough team, the tough head coach in Mark Dantonio and it’s got the Badgers in its backyard. Here’s the problem for the Spartans.  Not only can Wisconsin pound the ball down your throat with its running game, it has a quarterback in senior Russell Wilson who can make you pay for selling out to stop the run.

Postgame commentary: The Spartans pulled off one of the greatest finishes in college football history with their Hail Mary touchdown pass to win 37-31. Had that pass fallen incomplete, Wilson would have been the story heading into OT. He overcame throwing two interceptions to throw two touchdowns with the latter one tying the game with a minute, 26 seconds left in regulation.

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