SOUTH BEND, Ind. — For the second time in three weeks, Notre Dame will host a MAC opponent as a four-touchdown favorite. And there’s a good chance the experience against Northern Illinois will inform how Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m., NBC) unfolds against Miami (Ohio).

No. 17 Notre Dame hopes to avoid another upset at the hands of a Mid-American Conference team when it hosts Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.

Miami (Ohio) is on an ugly two-game losing streak after falling to Cincinnati and Northwestern, who is barely better than Purdue in the Big Ten Power Rankings on ESPN right now. Through the first two weeks of the season,