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Opponent Preview Game 3: University of Notre Dame 8 p.m. ET • Ross-Ade Stadium (West Lafayette) • TV: ABC irish likely to be angry after season-opening loss BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com much will be expected Not Notre Dame, which visof Purdue this weekend against its Ross-Ade Stadium as nearly a three-touchdown favorite. "It just adds more fuel to our fire," Boilermaker cornerback Frankie Williams said. Purdue will need all the fuel it can get. The 21st-ranked Fighting Irish are coming off a 41-30 loss at Michigan, but just months removed from playing for a BCS title and certainly appearing to be in a better place right now than a Boilermaker team that has struggled to a 1-1 start to 2013. "We have nothing to lose," offensive tackle Justin Kitchens said. "We're trying to go out there and make something happen." Irish coach Brian Kelly this week said his team must "put blinders" on and pay no atten- tion to Purdue's struggles, notably its middling offense, but rather focus on the flaws that doomed his team in Ann Arbor, where it was gouged by new Wolverine quarterback Devin Gardner and riddled with mistakes. "I think Saturday was concerning more in how they lost rather than just the fact that they lost," said Pete Sampson, who covers Notre Dame for IrishIllustrated.com. "I do not think there is great tragedy in losing at Michigan, especially considering Devin Gardner played great. But the fact that they were so one-dimensional offensively — they ran 13 red zone plays and 12 of them were passes. The fact that they made so many mistakes fundamentally on defense in terms of missed tackles and bad run fits and blown coverages. Those are things that Notre Dame just did not do last year, especially on defense. "I think that's probably the biggest concern coming out of the weekend is that after being a smart, ball-control offensive football team and a very sound fundamentally defensive football team, it's not really clear if Notre Dame will be there this year or if they will be able to get back to that." Purdue will obviously hope that if Tom Campbell Despite last week's loss at Michigan, Brian Kelly is 9-4 on the road at Notre Dame. Notre Dame's going to get there, it's not this week, that the Irish will play another flawed game and make life a little bit easier on the underdog home team. The Boilermakers will look to make sure the Irish running game continues to be only marginally productive by its standards and that their failure to capitalize on scoring opportunities continues. Tom Campbell In Ross-Ade two years ago, Tommy Rees tossed three touchdown passes. GoldanDBlack express • volume 24, express 3 • 9