Florida State-Notre Dame is weekend’s marquee matchup

Twenty-six years, almost to the day, since Notre Dame edged Miami 31-30 en route to the 1988 national title in a clash coined “Catholics vs. Convicts,” the No. 5 Fighting Irish will take on No. 2 Florida State on Saturday (5 p.m., ABC (13)) in a game that has inspired “Catholics vs. Criminoles” T-shirts.

The battle of two of college football’s six remaining unbeatens is the marquee matchup to watch on TV this weekend, with the Denver Broncos-San Francisco 49ers’ Sunday Night Football showdown (5:20 p.m., NBC (3)) — in which Peyton Manning can break Brett Favre’s NFL record of 508 touchdown passes — a close second.

Featuring an image of a crab in place of the Seminoles’ logo, the “Catholics vs. Criminoles” shirts are aimed at Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, who was issued a citation for shoplifting crab legs earlier this year from a Florida supermarket.

The Heisman Trophy winner just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Winston, 20, has been accused of everything from stealing soda at a Burger King, breaking windows in a BB gun battle and yelling obscenities on campus that resulted in a one-game suspension to sexual assault. He’s under investigation by Florida State for allegedly receiving money for more than 900 autographs. The situation caused many Las Vegas sports books to take the Irish-Seminoles game off the board.

Whether Winston plays or not — and we’re guessing he will — there’s always a chance the game could rival the one played between the schools in 1993, when No. 2 Notre Dame knocked off No. 1 Florida State only to lose the following week to Boston College. The Seminoles went on to win the national title over the Irish despite losing to them.

The same scenario could play out this season, when there might not be any undefeated squads left standing in the four-team playoff.

If Winston doesn’t play, Florida State will have to rely on backup quarterback Sean Maguire. With a name like that, he might be a double agent for the Irish.

FRIDAY

Minnesota Wild at Anaheim Ducks (7 p.m., Prime (50)): On a relatively slow sports night, you might want to check out former Bonanza High School student Jason Zucker — the first player from Nevada to play in the NHL — in this matchup of possible Stanley Cup contenders. A left wing for the Wild (2-0-0), Zucker, 22, scored a goal in Minnesota’s 3-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf have combined for six goals and six assists for the Ducks (3-1-0).

SATURDAY

Aside from the Notre Dame-Florida State game, there are four other matchups of top-25 teams.

No. 21 Texas A&M at No. 7 Alabama (12:30 p.m., CBS (8)): The Crimson Tide have scored 17 or fewer points in consecutive weeks for the first time since 2007, Nick Saban’s first season as coach. Forget Kenny Trill, whatever that means. Aggies quarterback Kenny Hill has looked more like Kenny Ill his last two games, throwing five interceptions in a pair of losses.

BEST OF REST: No. 11 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Kansas State (9 a.m., ESPN (30)); No. 12 Texas Christian vs. No. 15 Oklahoma State (1 p.m., FS1 (329)); No. 17 Arizona State vs. No. 23 Stanford (7:30 p.m., ESPN (30)).

SUNDAY

49ers at Broncos (5:20 p.m., NBC (3)): Manning needs two TD passes to tie Favre’s NFL record and three to break it. We expect Jim Harbaugh to do everything in his power to prevent Manning from breaking the mark against his team. We won’t be surprised if the maniacal San Francisco coach greets Manning with a pregame Jim Schwartz-style, slap-grab handshake or pulls a Woody Hayes during the game and wallops Wes Welker as he races for the record.

Harbaugh might actually be the reason Manning chose the Broncos over the 49ers in 2012. According to a recent ESPN The Magazine story, when Harbaugh was playing catch with Manning during his free-agent visit, the coach couldn’t help but remark that his passes had more mustard on them than the still-rehabbing future Hall of Famer’s did. That must’ve went over well.

BEST OF REST: Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts (10 a.m., CBS (8)); Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers (10 a.m., Fox (5)); New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys (1 p.m., Fox (5)).

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33.