BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Navy's chances of ending its 43-game losing streak to Notre Dame have never looked better.

Notre Dame is 1-7 entering Saturday’s game against visiting Navy in front of a national television audience and coming off an embarrassing, 38-0 loss to Southern California on Oct. 20.

Navy’s confident it can score on Notre Dame — the Midshipmen average 36 point per game. But can Navy, which has allowed opponents to average 38 points per game, play well enough defensively to end a 43-game losing streak to the Fighting Irish, the longest one between two schools on the football field in Football Bowl Subdivision history?

It’s hard to determine if Navy will be able to earn its first victory over the Fighting Irish since the John F. Kennedy administration in 1963 — just look at the Midshipmen’s latest performance. Navy couldn’t stop Delaware in a 59-52 loss in a game in which the Blue Hens posted 581 yards of total offense in front of 35,213 fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Navy (4-4) has yielded at least 40 points five times this year, and has lost three of those games. Navy has allowed 305 points through eight games, compared to 261 points in 13 games in 2006.

“We have tried just about everything I know of,” Navy coach Paul Johnson said. “We have to get better at what we have. We were beat some physically, but there were other mistakes, too.”

Most of Navy's defensive woes can be traced to inexperience and injuries to key players. The Midshipmen entered the year with nine new starters, but the two returning defenders — linebacker Clint Sovie and safety Jeff Deliz — were both lost for the year after sustaining injuries during a loss at Rutgers on Sept. 7. Then, cornerback Ketric Buffin injured his right arm during a win at Pittsburgh on Oct. 10 at Pittsburgh, and on Saturday, Rashawn King — the team’s best cornerback — left the Delaware game with an injury.

Navy linebacker Irv Spencer said there are no excuses for the defense's struggles — the Midshipmen just have to find a way to win two of their remaining four games to accept an invitation to the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 20.

“It's not that nothing was working out there,” Spencer, who had nine tackles and a sack against Delaware, said. “We all have to play our hearts out, but we also need to be in the right situation at the right time.”

The Midshipmen have lost five fumbles in the past two games after losing just four fumbles in the first six games. Navy has a minus-8 turnover differential in its four losses and a plus-three differential in four wins.

“There's no margin for error,” Johnson said. “Like I say every week, if we turn the ball over two times we lose. We cannot miss a turn with the ball.

rsnyder@baltimoreexaminer.com