The Weekly Word is GoldandBlack.com's weekly, obviously, column covering Purdue football, basketball and recruiting, as well as college sports issues, the true meaning of life, or whatever other topics might come to mind in a given week.

Obviously, Saturday's game at Notre Dame is Purdue's biggest test yet.

For as satisfying and badly needed as the Boilermakers' win over Oregon State was, the Beavers are Pac-12 riff-raff; for as overwhelming as the Boilermakers' win at Connecticut was, the Huskies are a Division IA program in name only.

Now, things get heavy.

Notre Dame sure doesn't look unbeatable through 125 minutes of football, and the Irish have dealt with some injuries. This is not a mission-impossible sort of trip for Purdue. But it's also not a trip where the mainstream will expect much of the visitor. The Boilermakers will be a touchdown-plus underdog and probably rightfully so.

But win or lose in South Bend, this game may be a strong tell on Purdue's viability the rest of the season, because this will be a really significant test in one area where the Boilermakers must stack up well enough during Big Ten play: At the line of scrimmage.