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TEMPE, Ariz. -- No. 10 Notre Dame’s visit to No. 9 Arizona State was dubbed THE newest product in the Saturday Catalog -- the elimination game. This would be no mere matchup of two highly ranked teams in the last third of the season -- not in the era of the College Football Playoff. The stakes are higher. The loser would be out of the running for one of the four slots.

After the entertaining affair staged Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium, the Fighting Irish are definitely out of it. Losing 55-31 tends to do that. The Arizona State team that racked up a 31-point lead in the first 30 minutes and scored 21 points in the last six is a tough out. But the Sun Devils that spent most of the second half losing all but three points of that large halftime lead would make a skeptic of anyone.