Nevada @ Notre Dame preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 5, 2009 ) Nevada 0, Notre Dame 35

A pair of losses after the first month of the season doomed Notre Dame last year, and the team is hoping a tough setback in the opener can be overcome before its time to decide on the College Football Playoff teams in December. The 21st-ranked Fighting Irish will try to bounce back quickly when they host Nevada on Saturday.

Notre Dame recovered from a 17-point deficit on the road at Texas on Sunday but ended up falling 50-47 in double overtime. "It's really about finishing, and finishing was not something that we did well on Sunday," Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly told reporters. "We competed. We played hard. We put ourselves in a position. We made some plays, but if you really look at it in a microcosm, offensively we had a chance to finish out well or put us in a good position on the last couple of drives, and we came up with nothing." Notre Dame yielded 237 yards and five scores on the ground in the setback. The Wolf Pack narrowly avoided an embarrassing loss in their opener and will take a big step up in competition against the Irish.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC. LINE: Notre Dame -28

ABOUT NEVADA (1-0): The Wolf Pack needed overtime to escape FCS opponent Cal Poly and its triple-option offense in a 30-27 triumph in Week 1. "We have a lot to teach and there’s a lot we have to improve on before next week," Nevada coach Brian Polian told reporters after the win. "But we found a way to win the game. That’s all that matters." The Wolf Pack got a big performance from running back James Butler - 123 yards and two touchdowns - in the victory and figure to test the Irish run defense.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (0-1): The Fighting Irish went into the season with a quarterback controversy between DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire, and Kizer stood the tallest with the two each logging playing time in the opener. Kizer threw five touchdown passes and ran for another score while Zaire was limited to 23 yards on 2-of-5 passes, and Kelly seems on the verge of naming a No. 1 quarterback moving forward. "We plan on having two really good quarterbacks the rest of the year," Kelly told reporters. "I haven't sat down and talked with either one of them, so before we do that we don't have any plans to make any decisions."

EXTRA POINTS

1. Notre Dame WR Torii Hunter Jr. (concussion) is questionable.

2. Butler (2,100) is 440 yards away from moving into 10th place on the school's all-time list.

3. The Fighting Irish have won seven of their last eight home openers, including a 35-0 triumph over the Wolf Pack in 2009.

PREDICTION: Notre Dame 45, Nevada 17