updated 10:01 p.m. ET Nov. 1, 2006

Charlie Weis needs four more wins to keep Notre Dame’s national title hopes alive. Nothing John Bunting does over the next four games will keep his job alive at North Carolina.

This matchup on Saturday is not expected to get in the way of Weis and the 11th-ranked Fighting Irish running the table, facing a woeful Tar Heels team with a coach in Bunting who is on his way out the door.

Notre Dame (7-1) is coming off one of its few lopsided wins of the season, 38-14 over Navy last Saturday. It was the Irish’s fifth straight victory and kept them on track for a BCS berth because they are ninth in the latest standings, and they will be eligible by staying in the top 12.

However, Notre Dame also is among a bevy of one-loss teams with a legitimate chance to claim a spot in the national championship game.

“There’s a lot of football to be played yet and I think a lot of questions will be answered for everybody by that time,” Weis said. “I think all we can do is just keep trying to creep our way up.”

The Irish are heavy favorites to win this game against the Tar Heels (1-7), and likely will be the same in the next two weeks against Air Force and Army. They close the regular season against No. 9 Southern California.

“Now, we haven’t won every game since I’ve been here, but every time we’ve gone out there the team has expected to win,” said Weis, in his second year as coach. “That’s what you want.”

While Notre Dame is looking to win out, Bunting might settle for just one more victory. His only one this season came against Division I-AA Furman.

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Bunting was fired last week, but will finish out the season with the school where he played as a linebacker. One of his final games as a player was a loss to Notre Dame in 1971, and this will be his first time facing the Irish as a coach.

“I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. This is a special trip for us,” Bunting said. “It’s just disappointing that we won’t have the record we would like going into the game.”

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The Tar Heels’ only victory in 16 meetings with Notre Dame came in 1960, and they have never won in 10 trips to South Bend. The programs have not played since 1975, when Joe Montana rallied the Irish to a 21-14 victory.

This contest is not expected to be so close, particularly with Weis’ offense gaining more confidence each week.

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While Brady Quinn has thrust himself back into the Heisman Trophy race by throwing for 15 touchdowns with one interception over the last five games, the Irish have shown signs their ground attack is getting on track. They rushed for 176 yards in last week’s win, including 103 from Darius Walker, and have averaged 139.8 rushing yards over the past four games after totaling 51 in the previous two.

“We felt that on offense we haven’t been running the ball, we haven’t been playing consistent,” Weis said after beating Navy. “What we had to do is have one of those games when we got the ball and scored early and often. Fortunately, that’s how it panned out.”

The season has not gone as planned for North Carolina, coming off a 24-17 defeat to No. 24 Wake Forest last Saturday.

The Tar Heels did outgain the Demon Deacons 370-289 and Ronnie McGill rushed for a season-high 117 yards, but they were held to 20 points or fewer for the seventh time this season.

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