FACTS & STATS: Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795) -- South Bend, Indiana. Television:NBC. Home Record: Syracuse 2-4, ND 4-1. Away Record: Syracuse 0-4, ND 1-3. Neutral Record: Syracuse 0-0, ND 1-0. Conference Record: Syracuse 1-5, ND 0-0. Series Record: Syracuse leads 3-2.

GAME NOTES: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish wrap up their home slate this weekend, as they host the Syracuse Orange in South Bend. The Irish enter the bout on a high note, as they prevailed over Navy 27-21 last weekend. The triumph put the breaks on a two-game slide and pushed the team to 6-4 overall. ND now heads back home, where it has posted four wins against just one loss. Following this game, the Irish will wrap up their regular season at USC on November 29th. As for Syracuse, its struggles continued last weekend with a 39-14 setback to Connecticut. A day after that result, the team learned that head coach Greg Robinson was fired, although he will finish out the remainder of the season. Robinson was hired in 2005 to replace Paul Pasqualoni, but he didn't have much success, going just 9-36 during his stay, including just 2-8 this season. In terms of the all-time series, ND owns a 3-2 edge over Syracuse and it is 2-0 versus the Orange in South Bend. The teams last met in 2005, a 34-10 victory by the Irish.

The Orange haven't had much success on offense this season, averaging just 18.3 ppg and only 271.4 total ypg. The team, though, has been able to move the ball on the ground at times, rushing for 146.2 ypg. Curtis Brinkley has been about the only bright spot for this unit, as the talented back has rushed for 1,060 yards and six scores. In last weekend's lopsided loss to UConn, Brinkley toted 21 times for 94 yards and a touchdown. It was a solid effort, especially when considering Syracuse manage only 147 total yards in the contest. Quarterback Cameron Dantley was under heavy pressure by the UConn defense and he responded by throwing for just 38 yards and an interception on 4-of-16 pass attempts. On the year, Dantley has thrown for nine touchdowns against four picks, but he has completed only 50.2 percent of his pass attempts for just 1,117 yards. Donte Davis has been his favorite target, although his 278 receiving yards leave a lot to be desired.

Syracuse hasn't fared much better on defense, as the unit is allowing 33.9 ppg and 423.0 total ypg to opposing squads. The Orange has been burnt for 209.2 ypg on the ground and 213.8 ypg through the air and has notched a mere 10 sacks. Last weekend, Syracuse allowed only 329 total yards to UConn, although 259 of those yards did come on the ground. The team failed to record a single takeaway in the game and managed just one sack in the loss. Max Suter posted seven stops and the lone sack, while Jake Flaherty also had seven tackles for the Orange. On the season, Flaherty paces the team with 67 tackles and he also has an interception to his credit.

Compared to a year ago, ND has done well on offense in 2008, gaining 127.0 rushing ypg and 244.5 passing ypg. The team though, has struggled to hang onto the ball and has committed 25 turnovers on the year. Last weekend, the Irish overcame five turnovers by rushing for 230 yards in a 27-21 win over Navy. James Aldridge led the charge with 80 yards on 16 carries, while Robert Hughes added 64 yards and a score on 13 totes. Armando Allen also got involved with 60 yards and a touchdown on eight attempts and he even paced the club with seven receptions for 60 yards. On the year, Allen tops the roster with 517 rushing yards and three touchdowns and he also ranks third with 42 receptions. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen completed an efficient 15-of-18 pass attempts against Navy, but for just 110 yards and two interceptions. Clausen has struggled with turnovers of late and has now thrown 15 interceptions on the year. He is still having a decent campaign with 2,439 yards and 18 touchdowns, but his mistakes have been costly at times. Michael Floyd and Golden Tate are Clausen's top options downfield and they have combined for 89 catches, 1,444 yard and 12 touchdowns this season.

The Irish have been pretty consistent on defense this year and they are giving up just 20.5 ppg and 316.4 to the opposition. The team is limiting foes to 136.7 ypg on the ground and 179.7 ypg through the air, while forcing 18 turnovers. Despite a near collapse at the end of last weekend's game, ND's defense was rather stout, holding Navy to only 242 total yards. The Irish forced one turnover in the contest and the special teams chipped in with a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown by Toryan Smith. Kyle McCarthy notched five tackles in the win, bringing his total to a team-best 89 for the year.

ND has clearly enjoyed a better campaign than Syracuse and it should have little trouble capturing the win in front of its hometown faithful this weekend.