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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Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 12.

Game of the week: No. 14 Stanford Cardinal (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) at No. 1 Oregon Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Pac-12), Saturday, 8 p.m., WJET (ABC)

Pregame rant: The Ducks are No. 1 in both national polls and second in the BCS standings, but all that will mean nothing if they fall to Stanford.

They won’t, though. The Cardinal aren’t going into Eugene with a redshirt freshman quarterback and beating the Ducks in their final regular-season home game.

Don’t get me wrong. Kevin Hogan is good. Real good.

He was clutch in last week’s win against Oregon State in his first collegiate start. In addition, Stanford is first in the nation in rushing defense.

The Cardinal are allowing 58.60 yards on the ground. So they’re up to the challenge of stopping Heisman candidate Kenjon Barner, who is second in points with 120 (20 TDs) and fourth in rushing (136 ypg.).

Barner had what looked like a right hand or wrist injury against Cal. He’ll likely play Saturday, but if it keeps him from being the difference maker he is, the Ducks could be in the trouble.

The problem for Stanford is it will have the same problem every other team has had against the Ducks. You fall behind early and can’t go score for score with them.

Say Stanford trails 14-0 or 17-3 or 21-10 by the midway point in the second quarter. It will be down 42-20 going into the fourth.

No one can go score for score with the Ducks. No one.

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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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Let us recap Week 13, shall we?

No. 23 Penn State (9-3, 6-2 Big Ten) at No. 15 Wisconsin (10-2, 6-2 Big Ten)

Pregame rant: Now the NCAA is getting involved in the whole Penn State situation surrounding former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Playing a game of football has been the best way for Penn State’s players to deal with what’s going on. The Nittany Lions will have to play one of their best games of the season to defeat Wisconsin. The question is can Penn State, which is ranked 106th in scoring offense (20.9 ppg.) score enough points to win?

Postgame commentary: The Nittany Lions couldn’t muster enough points nor stop Wisconsin in their 45-7 loss to the Badgers. Montee Ball ran for 156 yards and four touchdowns. The win puts Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game. As for the Nittany Lions, the focus will remain on the actions off the field. Sad story on a variety of levels.

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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 11, shall we?

No. 17 Nebraska (8-2,4-2 Big Ten) at No. 21 Penn State (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten)

Pregame rant: The game is almost an afterthought. Penn State no longer has its head coach – Joe Paterno – or its president. The school’s board of trustees fired Paterno following former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, being indicted on charges of sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years. The backlash of that helped lead to Paterno being shown the door in his 46th season as head coach. Now the Nittany Lions must go out and play their final home game in an emotional state against a team coming off an embarrassing home loss to Northwestern. Should be a wild one.

Postgame commentary: Just a sad, yet engaging scene. In the end, Nebraska hung on to win 17-14, but the continual fallout for Penn State is growing like wild bushes. How all this ends is anybody’s guess.

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Let’s recap Week 5, shall we?

No. 2 Alabama (5-0, 2-0 SEC) at No. 17 Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC)

Pregame rant: Everyone talks about Florida’s team speed, but this game will see if the Gators truly have some burners.

Postgame commentary: The Crimson Tide can slow down any team. Add Florida to that list. The Gators had just 15 yards rushing and were held scoreless the last three quarters of their 38-10 loss. Oh by the way, Alabama has the nation’s top back in junior Trent Richardson, who rushed for career-high 181 yards and two touchdowns against Florida.

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