SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Even though Virginia Tech in the midst of a conference championship race, Notre Dame with its losing record has more at stake when they face the Hokies for the first time.The Fighting Irish (4-6) need to win their final two games to become bowl eligible and avoid becoming just the 14th team in 128 years of Notre Dame football to post a losing record. For Virginia Tech (7-3), the game has no bearing on its bid to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division.Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer said avoiding the stigma of a losing season is a motivating factor in the final two games against the Hokies and USC.Six and six is a big feat to get to rather than being 5-7. We want to be a team who continues on a winning tradition at Notre Dame, he said.Coach Brian Kelly believes Notre Dames 44-6 victory over Army last week was its most complete game this season. He wants to see the Irish build on that.I want to make sure that how we play is going to be reflective of where we finish and how we build that for next year, he said.The Hokies are coming off a disappointing 30-20 loss to Georgia Tech, so now must beat rival Virginia to clinch the division title. Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said the focus this week is on continuing to improve.This is an ongoing process and its not always a straight ascension. This is a great opportunity and comes at a good time for us to go on the road and play a very talented team in what Im sure will be a hostile environment, he said.Other things to know about the Virginia Tech-Notre Dame game:NOT AN OPTIONThe defenses for both teams are happy to be returning to playing against more traditional offenses after facing triple option opponents. The Hokies played Georgia Tech, while the Irish faced Navy and Army in consecutive weeks. Its like a monkey off your back, Notre Dame linebacker Nyles Morgan said. Its back to basics.BALL SECURITYIt has been an issue in all of the Hokies losses. Jerod Evans threw two interceptions in last weeks loss to Georgia Tech, doubling his total for the season, and also fumbled. He still ranks fifth among all Power Five conference quarterbacks in efficiency, and the Hokies are tough to beat when they take care of the ball. Notre Dames loss to Navy two weeks ago marked just the second time under Kelly that the Irish lost when not committing a turnover.NO STREAKSIf Notre Dame fails to win Saturday it would mark the first season without consecutive victories since 1960. The Hokies are trying to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time since losing to Miami and to Duke in four overtimes in October 2015.DEFENSIVE SETBACKVirginia Tech allowed the Yellow Jackets to rush for 309 yards last week, but they have been stronger against the run in other games, allowing 144 yards on average. Thats 40th nationally. They rank 14th against the pass, allowing 185 passing yards per game.POOR RATINGSThe Army-Notre Dame game last week was the lowest-rated game in 26 seasons of NBC broadcasting Fighting Irish football games. The game averaged 1.52 million viewers. The previous low was against Air Force on Oct. 8, 2011, in a broadcast that averaged 1.59 million viewers. Notre Dame is averaging 2.89 million viewers this season, down 9 percent from last year.---AP Sports Writer Hank Kurz in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25.Houston Astros Store . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Yordan Alvarez Astros Jersey . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. https://www.cheapastros.com/113o-roger-clemens-jersey-astros.html . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. Larry Dierker Astros Jersey .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks aim for their third three-game winning streak of the season when they host the struggling Edmonton Oilers in Sundays battle at the United Center. Kyle Tucker Astros Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators.INDIANAPOLIS -- Another rash of injuries prompted the Indianapolis Colts to make a flurry of moves Tuesday, starting with the signing of tight end Chase Coffman.Later in the day, Indy promoted rookie receiver Tevaun Smith from the practice squad to the active roster, signed receiver Marcus Leak and cornerback Frankie Williams to the practice squad and placed receiver Quan Bray on injured reserve.The Colts also put tight end Mike Miller on the practice squad injured reserve list and released safety Lee Hightower from the practice squad.Coffman was signed two days after starting tight end Dwayne Allen left Sunday nights game with an injured right ankle. His lower right leg was wrapped in a huge ice pack.Coach Chuck Pagano did not provide an update on Allens injury Monday and there was no scheduled availability Tuesday.Coffman signed with the Colts just before the start of training camp in July and was relleased in the final round of cuts.dddddddddddd Before signing with Indy, Coffman played in 37 NFL games with Cincinnati, Atlanta, Tennessee and most recently Seattle last season.He has 18 receptions, 177 yards and two touchdowns in six NFL seasons.Smith, an undrafted rookie from Iowa, fills another need this weekend at Tennessee.Indy finished Sunday nights game with only two healthy receivers because Bray (ankle) and Phillip Dorsett (hamstring) didnt finish the game. Leak, another undrafted rookie, also would be available to play against the Titans (3-3). Smith and Leak were both at training camp with the Colts.Williams was activated from the practice squad for Sunday nights game, but was released Monday.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '