Notre Dame Moves Closer to No. 1 Miami

Notre Dame improved two spots to No. 4 in the Associated Press poll and also received its first No. 1 vote since 1997.

The Fighting Irish (8-0) defeated Florida State, 34-24, Saturday, dropping the Seminoles (5-3) from 11th to 18th.

The top three teams didn’t change: No. 1 Miami (7-0), No. 2 Oklahoma (7-0) and No. 3 Virginia Tech (8-0).

The Hurricanes lost two first-place votes after a 40-23 victory over West Virginia. They have 59 first-place votes. The Sooners picked up one first-place vote and have 14. Notre Dame received the other one.

Notre Dame leaped past two other undefeated teams, bumping Ohio State (9-0) two spots to sixth after the Buckeyes’ second consecutive low-scoring victory over a Big Ten team. Georgia (8-0) remained at No. 5.

Ohio State beat Penn State, 13-7, dropping the Nittany Lions (5-3) two spots to No. 20.

Rounding out the top 10 are Texas (7-1) in seventh, followed by Washington State (7-1), Iowa (8-1) and North Carolina State (9-0).

Iowa, which beat Michigan, 34-9, is in the top 10 for the first time since 1991.

USC (6-2) is 11th after beating Oregon (6-2) and dropping the Ducks to 19th.

Alabama moved to 12th after ending a seven-game losing streak against Tennessee, which fell to 25th.

Colorado (6-2) moved to No. 13, Kansas State (6-2) went to No. 14 and Arizona State (7-2) moved up to 16th.

Michigan fell seven places to No. 15. Louisiana State also dropped seven places to 17th after losing to Auburn.

Bowling Green improved to 7-0 with a 38-20 win over Ball State, and rose three spots to No. 21.

Air Force fell out of the rankings after losing to Wyoming. Colorado State entered the rankings at No. 24.

The top five in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll are Miami, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Ohio State and Georgia. Notre Dame is sixth.

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Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett should be able to play this week against Minnesota after leaving Saturday’s game against Penn State when he re-injured his left shoulder.

The standout freshman was hampered by a stinger in the shoulder against Wisconsin on Oct. 19.

Ohio State spokesman Steve Snapp said Clarett is probable for the Minnesota game, but his status is day to day.