The Fighting Irish (0-0) will take the home field at Notre Dame Stadium for the first time this season when they face South Florida (0-0) Saturday afternoon. The game will kick off at 3:40 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally by NBC (Dan Hicks, Mike Mayock and Alex Flanagan).

This will be the first meeting between the two schools. The Bulls are the 140th different opponent in Notre Dame football history.

Here is Saturday’s Countdown to Kickoff:

10 – Notre Dame is 97-19-5 (.822) in home openers and has won 10 of its last 13.

9 – Brian Kelly is 152-9 all-time when leading after three quarters.

8 – Only eight teams have travelled to South Bend for the first time and come away with a victory at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish are 45-8-1 against first time opponents

7 – Senior S Harrison Smith picked off seven passes in 2010, which ranked fourth in the FBS and were the most by an Irish player since Shane Walton in 2002.

6 – Notre Dame returns six defensive players that started all 13 games in 2010. All six players have also started at least 20 games in their respective Irish careers.

5 – Senior WR Michael Floyd ranks among the top three in five Irish career receiving categories, including catches, yards, touchdowns, 100-yard games and yards per game. He also ranks among the top five active FBS players in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and receiving yards/game.

4 – USF is the fourth consecutive Irish opponent to make its first trip Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame has not faced four straight first-time foes since 1932.

3 – Only three active coaches in the FBS have posted more victories than Notre Dame's Brian Kelly since 2006.

2 - Only two Notre Dame graduates can claim a victory over their alma mater since 1940. Gerry DiNardo ('75) guided LSU to a 27-9 triumph on Dec. 28, 1997 and Eddie Anderson ('22) led Iowa to a 7-0 win on Nov. 16, 1940.

1 – Since 2006, Brian Kelly is 30-1 when his team wins the turnover battle. In fact, his teams are 109-12 in his career when they have fewer turnovers than their opponent.

Enjoy the game and be sure check out BlueandGold.com afterward for complete post-game coverage.

Just The Stats, Please

A statistical look at today’s matchup.

Following is the statistical comparison between South Florida and Notre Dame. Since neither team has played, these rankings are the final NCAA stats from last season. National rankings are in parenthesis out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

TEAM RANKINGS

Rushing Offense
Notre Dame: 126.62 (92)
South Florida: 144.85 (71)

Passing Offense
Notre Dame: 253.08 (34)
South Florida: 164.54 (101)

Total Offense
Notre Dame: 379.69 (61)
South Florida: 309.38 (105)

Scoring Offense
Notre Dame: 26.31 (67)
South Florida: 24.08 (85)

Sacks Allowed
Notre Dame: 1.54 (38)
South Florida: 2.00 (68)

Rushing Defense
Notre Dame: 142.15 (50)
South Florida: 125.62 (22)

Pass Defense
Notre Dame: 215.08 (54)
South Florida: 192.31 (24)

Pass Efficiency Defense
Notre Dame: 115.75 (25)
South Florida: 118.16 (34)

Total Defense
Notre Dame: 357.23 (50)
South Florida: 317.92 (17)

Scoring Defense
Notre Dame: 20.23 (23)
South Florida: 20.00 (22)

Sacks
Notre Dame: 2.08 (54)
South Florida: 2.31 (35)

Turnover Margin
Notre Dame: .08 (51)
South Florida: -.15 (67)

TOP 50 INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

NOTRE DAME
Receptions Per Game: Michael Floyd 6.58 (15)
Receiving Yards Per Game: Floyd 85.42 (21)
Interceptions: Harrison Smith .54 (4)
Field Goals: David Ruffer 1.38 (T-21)
Tackles: Manti Te'o 10.23 (T-18)

SOUTH FLORIDA
Punt Returns: Terrence Mitchell 11.05 (23)
Kick Returns: Lindsey Lamar 26.56 (26)
Field Goals: Maikon Bonani 1.31 (T-31)