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GoldanDBlack express • volume 25, express 3 • 1 BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com N o way around it: Purdue's blowout loss to a middle-of-the-pack Mid-American Conference program last week was not the kind of program-building moment coaches and players planned. It was a surprising, potentially telling, loss in Year 2 of Darrell Hazell's project to transform the Boilermakers into a consis- tently winning program. Players didn't deny it was tough to ab- sorb, an event threatening to chip away at the confidence built during the offseason and after a season-opening victory. But they also know it increases the op- portunity of what awaits Saturday: A matchup with No. 11 Notre Dame in Lucas Oil Stadium. "We're trying to get back on track. Last Saturday, it took us off the path we had set," senior captain Ryan Russell said. "Notre Dame, playing especially the way they're playing now, if we can go out there and get the upset and beat them, I think that will do a lot for us in the future and set the tempo for us in the season. "We didn't show who we were last Sat- urday. We disappointed a lot of fans, a lot of supporters and ourselves, most important. We have a lot of making up to do and a lot of proving to ourselves. We know we have the talent and the ability, we just have to go out there and give it (our all) Saturday." The Boilermakers' mantra this week leading into their final matchup with Notre Dame until 2020 was about moving forward and forgetting about Week 2 and focusing on "doing your job" in Week 3. The emphasis makes sense. Purdue missed 17 tackles in its loss to Central Michigan, allowed a 100-yard in- dividual rusher for the ninth consecutive TomCampbell Darrell Hazell's team didn't have the answers last week against Central Michigan. But a victory over rival Notre Dame could erase some of that disappointment. 7 Purdue's national rank in terms of un- derclassmen, according to the school, with nearly 70 percent of its players in camp being freshmen and sophomores. 12 U.S. presidents who have lived in the White House since Purdue and Notre Dame started its annual series in 1946. Saturday will be the 69th consecutive matchup, a streak that will end this year. 36 Points the Boilermakers gave up per game in Weeks 1 and 2, the most since 1996. 1974 The only year in series history that Purdue has been a bigger underdog than it will be Saturday. Then, the Boiler- makers, a 34-point 'dog, shocked ND in South Bend with a 31-20 victory. THE NumbErs volume 25, eX 3 • sept. 11, 2014 Inside | Notre Dame preview 9-15 DBs feature 19–20 | Football notes 30–35 Basketball news 38 | Volleyball update 39-41 Looking To Get On 'Right Track'