Max Wittek plans on having a career record of 1-0 as a starter. (US Presswire)

Thanks to a shoulder injury that Matt Barkley suffered in the loss against UCLA, Max Wittek will be starting at quarterback for USC this week when it hopes to end the regular season by knocking Notre Dame out of the BCS Championship Game. But just because it's Wittek's first start and he'll be facing one of the stingiest defenses in the country -- no defense has allowed less than the 10.1 points per game the Irish are allowing, not even Alabama -- that doesn't mean he's lacking in confidence.

Nor will Notre Dame be lacking in bulletin board material.

Now most quarterbacks win a game before they go all Joe Namath, but I don't think anybody should hold this proclamation against Wittek. What does the kid have to lose?

If USC loses the game, the only thing anybody will be talking about is how Notre Dame has returned to glory. If USC wins all the talk will be about Wittek cashing the check his mouth wrote.

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It's a no-lose situation for Wittek, so in a way, he's already won.