I asked Brian over at Orange::44 to give me five things that he thinks could give Notre Dame - a rather surprising 19.5-point favorite Saturday - trouble.  Here's his response, and whether or not he's aware of Notre Dame's weaknesses this season, it seems like he could be quite prescient in looking at what could spring the upset in South Bend.

5 Things that could cause an upset for Syracuse over Notre Dame

1. Curtis Brinkley

Notre Dame allowed 178 rushing yards versus Navy last week.  Curtis Brinkley is having one hell of a season despite being on a lackluster team.  He has had five games earning 100 yards or more on the season.  On 204 carries, he has 1060 yards and an average of 5.2 yards per carry.  Regardless of what you think of Syracuse, if you underestimate Brinkley and the rushing attack of Syracuse, you could get burned.  He is a master of finding holes in the defense and burning them, so Brinkley could be too much to handle if Notre Dame's rush defense fails to show up.

2. Special Teams

One bright spot on this lowly Syracuse team is their Special Teams unit.  Just in the past few games they have blocked two punts for touchdowns and have had some quality returns on kicks.  If the game is actually close for some reason, Syracuse's Special Teams play could make the difference for the Orange.  Look out for Max Suter on kick returns to make a big impact on starting field position for Syracuse.  Patrick Shadle is also truly the best kicker in the Big East as well and is totally not gun shy when it comes to attempting a 45-50 yard field goal attempt.  Chances are if he is kicking it will go through.

3. Receiving Corps

Despite not having an outstanding quarterback throwing to them, some of Syracuse's receivers can really make plays and have talent.  Lavar Lobdell, Mike Owen, Donte Davis, and Tony Fiammetta are all talented receivers that can catch and run and get yards after contact if they get a good pass.  Syracuse has been awful the last couple games in terms of passing, but if Syracuse has the run working of course the passing could open up and give these guys a chance to show off their true talent.

4. The End of the Road for Greg Robinson

Greg is done as the Orange head coach after the season is done.  This is official.  However, Greg still wants to win his last couple of games.  Therefore, look for Syracuse to go out there feeling loose and open up the playbook a little more than they have so far in the season.  He has utilized several trick plays the last couple of games sparingly including a flea flicker and a fake punt.  Greg will surely keep the trend going.  This could just keep Notre Dame off balance enough to make some unlikely things on offense happen for the Orange and could be the edge Syracuse needs.

5. Batshit Crazy Luck

Syracuse is still in the midst of the worst four years in program history.  Most people, including myself, directly attribute this to Greg Robinson as head coach.  By the simple fact of announcing last Sunday that he will not be retained at the end of the season, I feel that sunshine and rainbows could erupt over the Syracuse players for the rest of the season.  They have been that bad for so long that by the simple act of firing him the curse could be broken and Syracuse will shock the Irish faithful like Cardinal fans last year at Louisville.  Anything is possible at this point.  Will it likely happen?  Probably not, but it does not hurt to dream because after all, it has only been five years since Syracuse beat Notre Dame in the Carrier Dome.