Charlie Weis' Irish may need to win one for the skipper

A victory over USC on Saturday would give the Notre Dame coach's job security a desperately needed booster shot.

No one can deny fifth-year Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis' dedication or intellect.

His breakdowns of upcoming opponents at weekly news conferences are pommel-horse displays of brain gymnastics.

Position by position, detail by detail, name by name, he deconstructs the enemy's strengths and weaknesses.

"Sixty-five yards rushing a game, two yards a carry, 173.8 passing a game, 238 a game total, 29% of third downs, 21 sacks, 23% touchdowns in the red zone," Weis spoke this week of USC's defense.

Special teams minutia?

"They got two snappers -- long snapper is [Cooper] Stephenson; the short snapper is [Chris] Pousson."

Offensive line insight?

Weis: "You have [Charles] Brown at left tackle. He is a big guy, moves well, he is athletic, has good feet."

Equipment men, trainers, song leaders, tuba players -- nothing gets by Weis.

Here's something else you can't deny: Weis is 33-22 as Notre Dame's coach. Too many times, after he has shown you how much he knows about the opponent, it's his team that has had a breakdown on game day.

Weis' signature "win" at Notre Dame is still the 34-31 loss to USC in 2005, a game in which he brilliantly matched wits with Pete Carroll . . . and then what?

Notre Dame had an open week and Weis parlayed "Bush Push" and return-to-NFL whispers into a contract extension that had such a pricey buyout it probably bought him this year.

That brings us full circle, again to USC at Notre Dame, with a chance to change the 2005 ending, with Weis' future dangling in the outcome.

After the 2005 loss, Weis made a classy visit to USC's locker room to congratulate the victorious Trojans.

You think it was easy for a disciple of Bill Parcells?

"I was just absolutely, completely miserable," Weis reflected this week of the agony of that day.

What appeared to be a renewal of a classic rivalry, though, dissipated in more recent seasons to the point today's game just might well be the coach's last goal-line stand.

Since that magical day four years ago, USC has three times had its way with Notre Dame: 44-24, 38-0 and 38-3.

Who thought "Bush Push" might render "Charlie's Shove"?

Since the promise of 2005, Notre Dame has gone 10-3, 3-9 and 7-6. The Irish's most impressive win has been . . . ?