Notre Dame Makes Top 10

Notre Dame moved into the top 10 in the Associated Press poll Sunday, the first time the team has been ranked that high since a one-week stay in the 2000 final regular-season top 25.

Checking in at No. 10, the Irish (4-0) moved up two places from last week after Saturday’s 21-17 victory at Michigan State. Notre Dame is off next week.

The Irish play next on Oct. 5 against Stanford, where Tyrone Willingham coached for seven years before taking over at Notre Dame this season.

While Miami remained a near-unanimous No. 1 choice over Oklahoma and Texas, Tennessee dropped out of the top 10 after its 30-13 loss to Florida. The Volunteers fell seven places to No. 11, while the Gators climbed three places to No. 7.

Kansas State also made a big move after its 27-20 win over USC, the Wildcats’ first home win against a ranked nonconference opponent. They moved up 10 places to No. 15, while the Trojans fell seven spots to No. 18.

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South Carolina State running back Derek Watson was arrested and charged with reckless driving early Sunday in Columbia, S.C., the latest legal problem for the ex-South Carolina player.

Richland County sheriff’s deputies also charged Watson with driving with a suspended license after he was spotted driving left of the center line, said Sgt. Chris Cowan.

Watson was stopped hours after he scored a touchdown in South Carolina State’s 50-12 victory over Savannah State. He later was released on bond. The arrest was first reported by Columbia station WIS-TV.

Watson has gotten into trouble several times since he gained 1,066 yards for South Carolina last season and helped the Gamecocks get to the Outback Bowl.

He was suspended from the bowl game by Coach Lou Holtz after wrecking a teammate’s car while driving with a suspended license.

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Notre Dame quarterback Carlyle Holiday will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis after injuring his left shoulder Saturday against Michigan State, Willingham said.

Willingham declined to say exactly what the injury was and said he didn’t know for sure how long Holiday would be out.

“We’re hopeful by the time our next ballgame arises that he will be in position to play,” Willingham said.

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Georgia Tech tailback Tony Hollings will have an MRI exam on his injured right knee today, but Coach Chan Gailey already is worried that his star player is out for the season. Doctors had to wait until today to run the MRI test so the swelling on Hollings’ knee could go down.