Several major college football programs already are on the edge

Michigan plays its first night game when it hosts Notre Dame in Saturday’s prime-time slot.

Unfortunately, for the Irish, the lights will be turned on and everyone will be watching.

By everyone we mean fans, critics, the FCC and mothers ready to wash Coach Brian Kelly’s mouth out with soap.

Notre Dame is one of a select group of schools already in early-season crisis mode.

Georgia faces a crucial home test against South Carolina; Oregon, a week after a poll-jarring loss to Louisiana State, needs to hold court in Eugene against Nevada; Auburn, which had to score twice in the final 2 minutes 8 seconds to beat Utah State, hosts dangerous Mississippi State; Texas Christian, undefeated last year, already has one loss heading to Air Force; and UCLA is possibly one San Jose State upset removed from eventually seeing Rick Neuheisel removed.

When they say every game counts in college football, well, they almost mean it.

Four straight wins to close 2010 had some observers thinking Notre Dame might be major-bowl material this year, but last week’s home loss to South Florida captured the Irish in a very bad light.

Starting quarterback Dayne Crist was pulled in favor of Tommy Rees, who gets the start against the Wolverines. Rees went 4-0 as a starter last year after Crist was injured and Kelly hopes this isn’t the start of a carousel.

“Nobody wants to go in and change their quarterbacks each and every week,” he said.

Kelly is also on notice to curb his sideline behavior. He was caught last week on camera ranting and cursing at players, which many felt was out of bounds for the coach of a prominent Catholic institution.

“What I have to recognize is that I’m on TV all the time,” Kelly said.

Or, stop cursing at players?

It’s too early to panic for our Slow-Start Six, but it is definitely time to get the lead out.

Notre Dame

Victory means: Notre Dame has momentum entering next week’s home game against Michigan State and stays alive in its quest to reach a BCS bowl. Kelly probably cleaned up his sideline act and Rees probably played well enough to stabilize the quarterback position.

Defeat means: The Irish plummet to 0-2 going into the game coming against Michigan State, which has won in six of its last seven visits to South Bend. The Irish, who started 1-3 last year, once again are forced to crawl back from an early-season ditch.

Georgia

Victory means: The Bulldogs offset last week’s loss to Boise State with a more important in-conference victory against longtime nemesis Steve Spurrier and South Carolina, which was picked to win the Southeastern Conference East.

Defeat means: Georgia has fallen to 0-2 for the first time since 1996 and faces the wrath of an increasingly agitated fan base already disturbed by last season’s 6-7 finish. The pressure mounts on Coach Mark Richt, who has averaged 9.6 wins per season in 10 seasons but hasn’t pushed the program to the top.

Oregon

Victory means: The Ducks have bounced back after last week’s loss to LSU and Coach Chip Kelly can use victory as a pivot point. Two years ago, after an opening defeat to Boise State in Kelly’s debut, Oregon narrowly escaped with a home win over Purdue and then raced all the way to the Pacific 10 title.

Defeat means: Oregon never recovered from the LSU hangover and has suffered a shocking home defeat against Colin Kaepernick-less Nevada. Speculation begins about whether a series of off-season incidents and distractions has carried to the field.

Auburn

Victory means: Last week’s brilliant onside kick that led to the game-winning touchdown against Utah State was the early-season turning point of the post-Cam Newton era. Auburn quarterback Barrett Trotter has grown up in very short time and gives Tigers fans hope this isn’t a transition year.

Defeat means: This is a transition year. The Tigers might struggle to reach six or seven wins with a schedule that features games at Clemson, South Carolina, Arkansas and LSU.

Texas Christian

Victory means: The defending Rose Bowl champions have a one-game winning streak after last week’s 50-48 loss at Baylor. The TCU defense, which allowed 564 yards, likely tightened up against Air Force’s dangerous running game.

Defeat means: TCU has lost two straight for the first time since 2007. The Horned Frogs drop to 0-1 in the Mountain West race. The Big East has second thoughts about inviting TCU to join next season?

UCLA

Victory means: Neuheisel’s post-practice rant this week — “I can’t be the only one who cares!” — got through to his team. UCLA did what was expected against an overmatched San Jose State team that was crushed last week by Stanford. Richard Brehaut started at quarterback over banged-up Kevin Prince and probably played well enough to keep the job next week against Texas.

Defeat means: You can start considering a short list of potential coaching candidates.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com