Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) -
ARMY: The Black Knights were idle this week and will remain so until their Dec. 8 matchup against Navy. At 2-9 on the year, Army would love nothing more than to end its season with a rare win over the Midshipmen. The winner will claim the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy as bragging rights among U.S. service academies.
BYU: The Cougars finished their regular season with a 7-5 mark following Saturday's 50-14 win at New Mexico State. Cody Hoffman hauled in a school- record five touchdown passes, finishing with 12 catches for a career-high 182 yards. He now has 1,134 receiving yards and 11 TD grabs on the season to rank among the national leaders in both categories. Senior James Lark, making his first career start, completed 34-of-50 passes for 384 yards and six TDs. His 384 yards are the most by a BYU quarterback making his first career start, while he is the 10th BYU passer to throw at least six TD passes in a game. He had attempted only 24 passes entering the contest. Jamaal Williams carried the ball 19 times for 62 yards to improve his season's rushing total to 744 yards and become the all-time rushing yardage leader for a BYU true freshman. All told, BYU racked up 520 total yards and held NMSU to 187 yards from scrimmage, including only 29 yards on the ground.
NAVY: The Midshipmen had the weekend off. They stand at 7-4 entering their Dec. 8 matchup against Army, in which they'll aim for their 11th straight victory in the series before taking part in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco on Dec. 29 against an opponent from the Pac-12 Conference. It will be the team's ninth bowl appearance in the last 10 years.
NOTRE DAME: The Fighting Irish wrapped up their perfect regular season with Saturday's 22-13 win at USC to lock up a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. The top-ranked Irish will play for their first national crown since 1988 after Kyle Brindza kicked five field goals on Saturday. Thanks to losses by both Oregon and Kansas State last week, coupled with Notre Dame's shutout of Wake Forest, Brian Kelly's Irish moved to the head of the Top-25, as well as the BCS rankings. With Saturday's victory, Notre Dame improved to 12-0 for the first time since 1988. Lou Holtz guided the '88 team to the national championship. Everett Golson completed 15-of-26 passes for 217 yards for the Irish, who will likely face a SEC opponent in Miami. Alabama and Georgia will play for the SEC title this weekend. Theo Riddick rushed for 146 yards and a score on 20 carries for Notre Dame against USC. The defense notched two interceptions off Trojans' freshman quarterback Max Wittek, who was making his first career start. Notre Dame, which came into the game tied with Alabama for first nationally in scoring defense (10.1 ppg), used a late goal line stand to help preserve the victory. The BCS National Championship game will be played on Jan. 7, 2013 at Sun Life Stadium.
