It's a heavy football weekend.

We've got a big football weekend on tap for this LSF author, and I thought it'd be fun to preview the action.

Notre Dame v Michigan State-

The battle for the Megaphone Trophy is on this Saturday afternoon at MSU. While we taked about the amazing history between the Irish and the Wolverines last week, this matchup between the Irish and the Spartans has tons of history as well. 1897 was the first time these two teams clashed, and ND currently leads the all time series with a record of 45-27-1.

Despite last year's matchup between the two rivals being pretty cool, it's the 1966 game that is known as "The Game of the Century." Notre Dame was ranked #1 and Michigan State was #2 when the teams met in East Lansing and played to a 10-10 draw. Coach Ara Parseghian decided to run the clock out, despite having the ball on his own 30 with one minute left, and stated that he "was confident that if they tied, they would still be National Champs." The next week, the Irish beat USC 51-0 (those were the days) and were given the Championship honor after their 9-0-1 season (despite MSU going 9-0-1 and two-time defending champ Alabama going 11-0). It's a controversial game that lives on in history.

More recently, it is the intense 33-30 win over MSU from last year that we all remember so well. Looking back to my September 21, 2009 post, you can read, "Kyle McCarthy snagged a intercetion on the 4 yard line with 57 seconds left as the Spartans were about to win the game...securing the first home win against Michigan State since 1993." It was a big game full of heroics.

I'm not convinced that this Michigan State team is as good as the "real" media say they are. Despite being 2-0, who have they beat? The Spartans took Western Michigan down 38-14, and followed that up by beating Florida Atlantic 30-17. I know we're not some amazing team this year, but we're lightyears ahead of MSU's other out of conference foes.

Now, way back in January, I predicted the Irish would lose this game. The past 8 games between these two teams have been decided by less than a TD, so I figured the road game would be a toss up. But, I predicted we'd beat Michigan and we didn't, so a win against MSU would just put our record back on track. Let's do it!

Onward to victory.

Rams v Raiders-

Even though Beasy Bee doesn't list the Raiders as one of his LSF squads, we all know how close they are to his heart. As such, this battle between the two former LA football clubs becomes a battle between two current LSF authors. Another page in the bitter series of long suffering rivalries. However, this game may end up being determined by who tries harder to lose.

The Raiders will be welcoming my Ramies to the home of the Oakland A's, as they try to avoid losing a sixth straight home opener. The Raider Nation may be high on Jason Campbell, but he may end up dead if the offensive line doesn't do a better job protecting him. He was sacked 4 times en route to the season opening 13-38 loss to the Titans last weekend. 

Meanwhile, we're high on our new QB as well. Sam Bradford attempted 55 passes in the season opening loss to a crappy Arizona Cards squad, which was the third most in franchise history. He may have thrown three picks (two in the fourth quarter), but I still think he looked better than the numbers suggest thanks to some horrible receiving.

The Rams have lost to AFC teams 12 out of their last 12 tries. But, their last win against an AFC team just happens to be December of 2006, when we busted...the Raiders. 

Let's face it, this is a game between two loser franchises right now, and who will win is anyone's guess. But, I have to pull for my Blue & Gold, even if Vegas isn't saying it'll happen. You can get the Rams +3 1/2 points if you lay a bet down right now, with a pretty pathetic O/U of 38. 

Boy, would I be taking the Rams and the points in this one, or what?

Best of luck, Brandon. May the least loser-ish team win.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē