Trojans search for spotlight

Game originally scheduled this season seemingly for purely nostalgic reasons now elevated to “Hmm, this could be interesting” status, much to Pete Carroll’s chagrin. . . .

USC at Notre Dame (Saturday, Channel 4, 12:30 p.m.): Remember USC’s narrow, harrowing escape at Washington a few weeks ago? (Right. How could any Trojans’ fan forget?) When the Huskies wore those 1960’s throwbacks and people said, “That’s as close as anybody dressed like Notre Dame is going to get to USC this season?” Well. Some stuff has happened in the interim. Notre Dame defeated UCLA at the Rose Bowl and enters this game with a better winning percentage against Pac-10 opposition (1.000) than USC (.750, though only a couple of plays removed from .250).

NBCSports.com is offering a replay of the 2005 USC-Notre Dame game, complete with Reggie Bush lending Matt Leinart an extra hand on the winning touchdown. Considering karma and jinxes and leprechauns and recent events, I am not sure that is a good thing for USC.

Bears, not as golden as they once were. . . .

California at UCLA (Saturday, Channel 7, 12:30 p.m.): Representatives from Bruins’ and Golden Bears’ booster clubs join Chicago Bears’ and Cubs’ support groups to light honey-scented candles, watch “Yogi Bear” reruns and wonder, “How could it ever have gone wrong?”

Games with national college football championship implications. . . .

Oklahoma at Iowa State (Saturday, 9:30 a.m., FSNW) and Michigan State at Ohio State (Saturday, 12:30 p.m., ESPN2) and Florida at Kentucky (Saturday, Channel 2, 12:30 p.m.) and Kansas at Colorado (Saturday, ESPN, 2:30 p.m) and Auburn at Louisiana State (Saturday, 6 p.m., ESPN ) and Texas Tech at Missouri (Saturday, 12:30 p.m., ESPN GamePlan) and Michigan at Illinois (Saturday, 5 p.m., Channel 7): Everybody in school, into the pool!

The BCS chase has become an all-comers meet! A NASCAR race! A triathlon (and nobody out there has been cleared to swim without the aid of a flotation jacket)! Anything but college football as it was known (and is fondly remembered) from November 1869 through September 2006.

College football’s behind-closed-doors decision to commence top-secret “Operation Imitate The NFL” on Oct. 1 has introduced that dreaded term “parity” into Saturday barbecue discussions once blissfully free from that buzz-kill concept. It has also provided a new spin on the tired debate: This is the perfect year for a college football playoff! Or not. Most of the 1.37 billion college football playoff proposals I have seen call for an eight- or 16-team tournament. This season, you couldn’t get away with anything less than 64 teams, plus a play-in game between Central Michigan and Clemson (to be previewed on Saturday at 9 a.m. on ESPNU).

How the NHL also imitates the NFL. . . .

Ducks at Dallas Stars (Saturday, 5 p.m., Prime): The Ducks defeated Nashville on Wednesday to even their record at 4-4-1, which is good enough for first place in their division. Now, is that the NHL Pacific Division? Or the AFC West?

Bad Trojans flashbacks. . . .

Stanford at Arizona (Saturday, 4 p.m., FSNW): If you are looking for two reasons why USC is ranked a lousy 13th in the Associated Press poll, here they are.

Scouting, combined. . . .

Buffalo at Syracuse (Saturday, ESPNU, 1 p.m.): Nebraska’s old new athletic director Tom Osborne will want to check in on Buffalo’s current coach Turner Gill, who could be Nebraska’s next coach. (Did you know that University of Buffalo’s sports teams are called the Bulls? That’s right. The Buffalo Bulls. This cashing-in on South Florida’s recent success has really become shameless.)

As for Syracuse, what can you say? Except: The Orange are 1-6, and could be looking for a new coach, and Karl Dorrell could be available very, very soon.

Versus Curses of the week. . . .

Texas at Baylor (Saturday, 9:30 a.m, Versus): UCLA was ranked No. 11 in the nation before it played Utah on Versus. And lost, 44-6. USC was ranked No. 2 in the nation before it played Stanford on Versus. And lost, 24-23. Cal was ranked No. 2 in the nation before it played Oregon State on Versus. And lost, 31-28. The Versus website teases the Texas-Baylor game this way: “Coming off a 56-3 rout of Iowa State to snap a two-game skid, the Longhorns look to go 6-2 against a Baylor squad that has lost its first three conference games to fall to 3-4.” Pity the Longhorns.

Rugby World Cup finals (Saturday, noon, Setanta Sports, pay-per-view; also Sunday, 3 p.m., Versus, taped): England and South Africa play for the world rugby championship in a fascinating study of contrasting styles and science. South Africa routed England, 36-0, in group play and is favored in the rematch, which Setanta is airing live and Versus is showing only on tape-delay. So the Springboks might be able to tiptoe around the small-print technicalities of the Versus Curse. Although, clearly, this is uncharted ground.

NBA exhibition game brought to you by Mr. Clean. . . .

Charlotte Hornets at Lakers (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., FSNW): So how clean is Kobe Bryant’s locker? What was in that locker that needed cleaning out? So many unanswered questions in this saga.

Kings of the road, pretty much in name only. . . .

Kings at Vancouver Canucks (tonight, 7, FSNW): If the Kings were a high school or college football team, they’d be playing an awful lot of homecoming games this season.

Are we not fans? We have TiVo. . . .

Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders (Sunday, 1 p.m., Channel 2) and Minnesota Vikings at Dallas Cowboys (Sunday, 1:15 p.m., Channel 11): One game to watch live, one game to tape. About Chiefs-Raiders: Every team in the AFC West is 3-3 or 2-3, so this must be a big game. About Vikings-Cowboys: The Vikings, who haven’t been worth watching in recent years, have the NFL’s most exciting new running back in rookie Adrian Peterson. Last week, Peterson rushed for a club-record 224 yards against the Bears. This week, Vikings Coach Brad Childress said Peterson remains the No. 2 tailback on the team’s depth chart. Which explains why the Vikings haven’t been worth watching in recent years.

Punt. . . .

Northwestern at Eastern Michigan (today, 4 p.m., ESPNU): Did I just say “punt?” Sorry about that. I just gave away both of these teams’ offensive game plans.

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christine.daniels@latimes.com