• In the best comparison -- common opponents -- Notre Dame wins. The Irish were slightly better than Kansas State against Miami (Fla.) and Oklahoma. Notre Dame beat Miami by 38 on a neutral field. K-State beat Miami in Manhattan by 39. Both schools won at Oklahoma -- Notre Dame by 17, K-State by five. The Sooners were ranked in the top 10 at the time they played both schools.
Notre Dame beat Miami and Oklahoma by a combined 71-16. K-State won by a combined 76-32. Notre Dame gained 983 yards in those games and allowed 664. K-State: 860 gained, 648 allowed. Let's be charitable and call it a push. Notre Dame is even with Kansas State through 20 percent of their schedules to date.
• Heisman candidates. Once again, it's even. Manti Teo on one side of the ball for the Irish, Klein on the other for the Wildcats.
• Coach of the year candidates. It's hard to elevate anyone above Brian Kelly and Bill Snyder. Kelly, an offensive/quarterback guru, has had to reinvent himself with a team heavy on defense while breaking in a new quarterback.
Snyder, what else can you say? At 73, he remains the smartest guy in the room -- and on the field. Twenty-five junior college players and a former backup receiver/special teams player (Klein) have congealed to make a championship run.
• Defense vs. offense. Notre Dame leads the country in fewest points allowed, 11.1. Since 2001, only seven teams have allowed fewer points per game. Kansas State has been just as impressive on offense averaging 42.2 (eighth nationally).
Notre Dame has won five of its games by a touchdown or fewer. K-State has won five of its games by 14 or less.
Notre Dame has allowed nine touchdowns all season, none in consecutive games to Michigan, Michigan State and Miami. The Wildcats allowed three in one game to North Texas.
Ninety-three times Notre Dame opponents have started a drive inside their 41. Only one of those has resulted in a touchdown. Technically, Navy's 75-yard drive to start the second half in the season opener shouldn't count since it happened outside the country in Dublin.
Kansas State has scored 53 touchdowns, 31 of them accounted for by the great Klein. Notre Dame has 30 touchdowns for the season and has frequently had to be bailed out by backup quarterback Tommy Rees.
• Schedule strength. At the beginning, this was one of Notre Dame's toughest schedules in history. It can't help that Michigan State and Miami have been disappointments. I'll take Pittsburgh, Boston College and Wake Forest on Notre Dame's schedule and match them with Missouri State, North Texas and Kansas on Kansas State's.
At least, the Irish didn't play an FCS school.
Kansas State won big road games at West Virginia and Oklahoma. Notre Dame beat Stanford and Oklahoma.
For now we'll let Jeff Sagarin settle it. His computer is one of six used by the BCS. This week he has the Irish ranked first. Kansas State is second. Schedule strength: Notre Dame, 28th; K-State, 29th.
Another push.
The schedule down the stretch for both teams is, once again, about even. Wake Forest (ranked No. 69 in the BCS) and USC (18th) for Notre Dame. Baylor (No. 57) and Texas (15th) for Kansas State.
At this stage eight years ago -- the only other time we had three unbeatens in the BCS era -- Auburn was a mere .0031 behind No. 2 Oklahoma. Oklahoma State missed out on a national championship berth by .0086 last year.
It doesn't look good for Notre Dame with that current .0101 deficit. In one sense, that's the width -- in inches -- of a hair on my head. (Right, I have no hair on my head. You get the point.) In another sense, the Irish likely need help, not their own network.
I fear opening my laptop these days. In it, there is no rational thought. In it, looms a football giant with the best of everything -- a national media following, legions of fans so aggressive they are the zombie undead and an affiliation with a supreme being.
Collin Klein and Kansas State cannot be stopped. My Twitter account told me so.