As a writer for the South Bend Tribune correctly summed up, Notre Dame’s 24-17 win last week against Navy, “wasn’t pretty, but it was a needed win.”

The Irish rallied to defeat the pesky Midshipmen in a driving rain. And in getting the win, the Irish got back some of what was missing in the games against Wake Forest and Miami — its defense.

The Irish “D” held Navy’s option offense, ranked No. 1 nationally in rushing at 369.8 yards per game (and 5.9 per carry) entering the game, to 277 rushing yards and 3.8 yards per carry.

Also finding themselves were quarterback Brandon Wimbush and running back Josh Adams. After another slow start, Wimbush got back into the form he showed prior to the Miami game. He completed just 1 of 5 passes in the first quarter against Navy then completed two 23-yard passes with time running out in the first half and the Irish trailing, 10-3. He then ran for a touchdown with eight seconds left. In the second half Wimbush threw a pair of TD passes in a relentless rain to sophomore receiver Kevin Stepherson.

Adams, who had only 62 rushing yards in the two previous games, had 106 yards on 18 carries. And make no mistake about it, they were a tough 106 yards.

The win keeps the Irish in the picture for a top tier New Years Day game. That will be clinched with a win tonight at Stanford. A loss tonight will put the Irish in a lesser game, although still possibly on New Years Day.

More on the game later.

Today the Irish face a Stanford team that started slow, winning just one of its first three games. Then the Cardinal found itself and went on a streak that led to a 8-3 record entering tonight’s game. What Stanford found was an offensive line that really took a giant step forward not allowing a sack and leading the way for running back Bryce Love. Love is the nation’s No. 1 rusher, averaging 172.3 yards per game. Stanford is the only team averaging more yards per carry nationally than the Irish. ND actually got a taste of Love last year. He ran for 121 yards on 23 carries, filling in for injured Christian McCaffrey in a 17-10 Cardinal victory over ND.

K.J. Costello took over as quarterback three games ago from prior starter Kellar Chryst, who had played in 16 straight games. Costello has completed 85 of 140 passes for 993 yards with five interceptions. Love has rushed for 1,723 yards this year on 195 carries with 16 TDs. He gets some help from Cameson Scarlett with 362 yards on 73 carries and six scores. The top receivers are Ji A-whiteside with 595 yards on 37 catches, and five scores.

ND leads the series, 19-12. ND has lost the last four games played at Stanford and the last Irish win overall was in 2014. As noted, the Irish lost last year, 17-10, and in 2015, 38-36. The games with the Cardinal have usually come down to the final plays of the game.

The game will be televised nationally by ABC-TV with a 8:10 p.m. kickoff.

IRISH NOTES ... The injuries that Adams has suffered in the last three weeks has affected his national ranking among running backs. He is now ranked No. 14 with 121.5 average per game, but is fourth in yards per carry at 7.82 ... Here are some more game stats: Stepherson had five catches for 103 yards and two scores; Wimburh ran eight times for 41 yards and a score. He also completed nine of 18 attempts for 164 yards. Defensively, Greer Martini had 15 tackles while Julian Love had 14 after starting at free safety ... Receiver Equanimeous St. Brown had to leave last week’s game with a head injury which put him in concussion protocol. It happened after he flipped in the air going up for a high pass and hitting his head on the turf during the first quarter ... Junior cornerback Shaun Crawford and senior defensive end Andrew Trumbetti each made their first starts of the season last Saturday. Crawford finished with a career-high seven tackles. Trumbetti collected four tackles ... Navy ran 80 plays to ND’s 49 and possessed the ball 42:42 to ND’s 17.18. Despite that, Navy was held to a season-low in points 17 by the Irish defense and their second-lowest total offense showing of the season at 318 yards ... After committing four turnovers against Miami, the Irish offense didn’t turn the ball over against Navy. ND did have a turnover on special teams when Chris Finke fumbled a punt in the second quarter. Navy recovered it on the Irish 39-yard line and 11 plays later they scored a TD ... Notre Dame ran for 163 yards on 31 carries against Navy bringing its season total to 3,195 yards. The school record is 3,502 held by the 1973 Irish national championship team ... Notre Dame remained No. 8 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings that were revealed Tuesday. The only change in the top 12 came with Miami and Clemson flip-flopping at No. 2 and No. 3. Stanford is ranked No. 21 ... Irish first-year defensive coordinator Mike Elko was named Tuesday as one of 15 semifinalists for the Broyles Award, since 1996 given to the nation’s top college football assistant coach. The winner being announced Dec. 5 at Little Rock, Ark ... Printing all the possibilities concerning which bowl game the Irish would end up in if they win tonight or lose tonight, would take half a page or more. Simply put, a win puts them at 10-2 and in one of the high tier games, which also means a big payoff. A loss drops the Irish to a lower tier of games with a much smaller payoff. That means there is a lot of $$$ on the line for the Irish tonight. There is a very small chance that the Irish get in the College Football Playoff final four. It would take several teams ranked ahead of the Irish losing in the next week or two ... I picked Stanford to win in my preseason picks. The Irish are favored by two, which I don’t understand. I’m still not confident in the Irish offense and defense since the Miami rout and still have serious doubts about coach Brian Kelly in these types of games. I will stay with my original pick. This is the last column for the regular season. I will be back with a pre-bowl game column. I want to thank everyone who reads this column during the season. It is appreciated.