Why showdown with Notre Dame is Navy's most important game in nearly a decade

The No. 24 Navy Midshipmen are undefeated and have been submarining under the radar for most of the season as a College Football Playoff contender.

Saturday, the Midshipmen (6-0) travel to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to face historic rival Notre Dame in the program's biggest game in nearly a decade.

The No. 12 Fighting Irish won't be an easy win as Navy's previous six foes have seemingly been. The Midshipmen are averaging 44.8 points per game and have only given up 118 to opponents (19.6 points per game).

Notre Dame's offense is averaging 34.6 points-per-game but it did lose to Northern Illinois in Week 2. Navy will be hoping it can repeat such an upset on neutral turf in its best bid ever at entering the College Football Playoff conversation.

Navy could leapfrog rival Army with a win over Notre Dame

If the Midshipmen were to pull off the upset over a Top 15 opponent, there's a significant chance they would be rewarded by the AP voters and enter the Top 20 on Sunday.

Navy's longtime rival, No. 23 Army (7-0), could see itself leapfrogged as a result. The Midshipmen have not been ranked inside the AP Top 20 since 2015 when it peaked at No. 16 in Week 12.

A win Saturday would also be required for Navy to even sniff the College Football Playoff. With Army in the same conference and also unblemished, the Midshipmen cannot afford to falter.

The program hasn't been a national title contender since 1963 when it was ranked No. 2 for five straight weeks to end the season. Of course, that team was led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Roger Staubach.

This year's starting quarterback, Blake Horvath, could also insert himself into the Heisman conversation with a solid performance. The junior leads the team in both passing and rushing, truly a dual-threat asset.