DALLAS (FWAA) - Any doubts about Notre Dame's place among the nation's top 10 teams were put to rest Saturday, as the Fighting Irish (8-0) won a 30-13 blockbuster at No. 8 Oklahoma to earn Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week honors for games of the weekend of Oct. 27. The announcement came exclusively on SiriusXM Radio's "College Sports Today," hosted by Mark Packer and Eddie George.
Everett Golson threw for 177 yards and scored the decisive touchdown on a 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame is now the only team in the country that has defeated four ranked teams, and the fourth came in Norman, where Oklahoma was 79-4 under Bob Stoops prior to Saturday.
"We knew what we could do. Today's no surprise," said Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, who had an interception and 11 tackles, two of them for losses. "We knew that if we came to work, (if) we came into today with confidence and everybody doing their job that we would be fine. I'm glad we came out the right way."
The other Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend of Oct. 27 were:
• Georgia (7-1): The Bulldogs' defense came up with six takeaways, and Todd Gurley rushed for 118 yards as Georgia kept its SEC title hopes alive with a 17-9 win over No. 3 Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. Two Georgia interceptions killed Florida drives at the end of first two quarters as the Bulldogs clung to a 7-6 halftime lead.
• Kent State (7-1): The Golden Flashes captured their first-ever win over a nationally-ranked opponent with a 35-23 win over previously-unbeaten and 18th-ranked Rutgers on the road. The win moves Kent State another step toward its first bowl berth since 1972.
The Football Writers Association of America has named a national team of the week since the 2002 season. This is the eighth season that the award has been sponsored by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
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For more information on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week, go to footballwriters.com or fiestabowl.org.
