NORMAN, Okla. Notre Dame&#x92;s hex on Oklahoma is so strong it now impacts an entire conference.</p><p>By taking down the Sooners 30-13 in a defensive struggle Saturday, the Fighting Irish strengthened their position in the national championship race at the expense of the Big 12.</p><p>The Sooners entered the game ranked eighth in the BCS standings, and they are the most impressive conquest of Big 12 leader Kansas State.</p><p>But now the same is true of Notre Dame, and in this sport of style points that influence ballots and computer calculations, hints such as comparative outcomes against common opponents carry weight.</p><p>The Irish&#x92;s victory Saturday was as impressive as anything that happened Saturday, perhaps all season, but coach Brian Kelly wasn&#x92;t in the mood to talk about the deeper meaning.</p><p>&#x93;I&#x92;m not going to say we&#x92;re not excited,&#x94; Kelly said. &#x93;But if we start talking about all these other things, we&#x92;re going to lose sight of how we got here. If we start listening to national championship and BCS, we&#x92;ll lose a football game. That&#x92;s what I told them in the locker room.&#x94;</p><p>You can almost hear Alabama&#x92;s Nick Saban, Kansas State&#x92;s Bill Snyder and Oregon&#x92;s Chip Kelly expressing the same sentiment on a day when their teams all won, and the fifth contender &#x97; Florida &#x97; fell to Georgia.</p><p>Heading into the weekend the top five went: Alabama, Florida, Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame.</p><p>Will the Wildcats move into No. 2? If so, can they stay there by winning out against a schedule that doesn&#x92;t includes only one team &#x97; Texas &#x97; ranked in the BCS top 25 entering this week?</p><p>The Irish will jump at least one and perhaps two spots because they put together an effort mindful of the program&#x92;s glory years. And for Oklahoma, the game served as a painful reminder of how little success the Sooners have had in dealing with the Irish.</p><p>Notre Dame, which now leads the all-time series 9-1, ended Oklahoma&#x92;s college record 47-game winning streak in 1957. On Saturday, the Irish ended any hope of the Sooners, 6-2, returning to the national championship picture this season.</p><p>&#x93;It stinks to lose,&#x94; Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said.</p><p>Offensively, Irish redshirt quarterback Everett Golson played beyond his years, expertly moving Notre Dame against the Big 12&#x92;s top scoring defense. His one-yard touchdown run with 5:05 remaining proved to be the game winner and it answered Oklahoma&#x92;s lone touchdown, scored only moments earlier.</p><p>On the deciding drive, Golson completed a 50-yard bomb to freshman Chris Brown, and when the Irish moved to the Oklahoma 1, he took the shotgun snap and burrowed into the pile for the touchdown.</p><p>It was Oklahoma&#x92;s turn to respond, but instead, Notre Dame&#x92;s stud defender and Heisman Trophy hopeful came up with the game&#x92;s biggest stop. Linebacker Manti Te&#x92;o collected a tipped interception tossed by Landry Jones.</p><p>&#x93;He&#x92;s everything you look for in a candidate,&#x94; Kelly said of Te&#x92;o&#x92;s Heisman hopes.</p><p>The Irish had the ball, the lead and precious few minutes remaining.</p><p>But it was enough time for Notre Dame to tack on 10 more points and give what had been a close game a blowout score.</p><p>And scores matter. How many voters in the USA Today or Harris polls watched the game? But everybody will see a 17-point victory for a team that was a double-digit underdog.</p><p>Only a few minutes before Golson&#x92;s score, Oklahoma had finally reached the end zone. With nine minutes remaining, Blake Bell &#x97; the &#x93;Bell-dozer&#x94; &#x97; stretched his 6-6, 254-pound frame across the goal line and with the extra point the Sooners made it 13-13 with 9:10 remaining.</p><p>It took a gusty fourth-down call to reach the 1. Needing two yards from the 9, Bell took the snap and charged as if he was going to throw his body into the pile. Instead, he slung a pass to Trey Millard in the flat, which picked up eight.</p><p>On a night when Oklahoma looked to re-establish a place among college football leaders, the Sooners&#x92; highlights were few and big plays non-existent.</p><p>Mistakes, however, were plentiful.</p><p>The packed stadium was on fire as kickoff approached, and when the Sooners opened the game in a flurry &#x97; three Jones&#x92; completions in the first 38 seconds &#x97; the place was shaking.</p><p>Two more snaps and the Sooners had reached Irish territory. Notre Dame defenders couldn&#x92;t react quickly enough to Oklahoma&#x92;s pace.</p><p>And suddenly they didn&#x92;t have to. Jones moved from his shotgun position to the line to change the play, but center Gabe Ikard didn&#x92;t realize this. He fired the snap to where he thought Jones was standing. OU recovered, but the 19-yard loss started a slow drain of Oklahoma&#x92;s battery.</p><p>The Sooners&#x92; defense got caught out of position for the game&#x92;s first touchdown. Safeties cheated up when Cierre Wood found a seam and burst into an open secondary for a 62-yard touchdown.</p><p>Meanwhile, Oklahoma was held to a paltry 22 rushing yards. A second-quarter touchdown by Bell was wiped off the board by a holding penalty. Meanwhile, Notre Dame dug in.</p><p>&#x93;Physical and mental toughness,&#x94; Kelly called it.</p><p>Just don&#x92;t call it a BCS or national championship game statement, at least not to Kelly.