SOUTH BEND—Notre Dame running back C.J. Prosise made Navy pay for its turnovers.Prosise scored one play after linebacker Jaylon Smith recovered a fumble by Chris Swain on the Navy 7 and two plays after Devin Butler recovered a fumble by Dishan Romine at the 26-yard line on the opening kickoff of the second half. He finished with three rushing touchdowns as the 15th-ranked Fighting Irish beat the Midshipmen 41-24 on Saturday. ”Huge, huge,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said of the turnovers. ”Those obviously meant a lot in this game.” Navy had tied the score at 21-21 with 24 seconds left in the first half after 253-pound fullback Quentin Ezell gashed the Irish for touchdown runs of 45 and 22 yards. But Justin Yoon kicked a 52-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the first half and Prosise put the Irish (5-1) ahead by 10 points with a 22-yard run following the second fumble.The Midshipmen (4-1), who had won eight straight, had been tied for the lead in the nation with just one turnover before Saturday’s game. ”We had some penalties, some turnovers, some missed assignments, that normally we’re pretty clean on those phases,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. ”Against a good team like Notre Dame, that spells disaster. That’s what happened to us.” Prosise, who was held to 50 yards on 15 carries in a loss a week earlier against Clemson, scored on runs of 7, 22 and 11 yards and finished with 129 yards rushing as the Irish amassed 459 yards total offense. ”It felt great getting back out there and having some big holes again,” Prosise said. ”They weren’t loading the box like last week, and we just had to be able to make some plays on the perimeter, too.” Prosise joins Frank Lonergan in 1902 and Reggie Brooks in 1992 as the only Irish running backs to rush for three touchdowns twice in the same season.DeShone Kizer, who was 22 of 30 passing for 281 yards, including a 30-yard TD pass to Will Fuller, said it’s fun watching Prosise run. ”C.J.’s an unbelievable guy who runs after the first hit,” he said. Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds sat out part of the second quarter and the end of the game after falling awkwardly on his left leg while being tackled. ”It’s sore but nothing major is wrong. I just have to rehab it, ice, etc. but I’ll be fine,” he said. Reynolds finished with 110 yards rushing on 15 carries but the Irish held him without a rushing touchdown for a second straight season. Keenan remains at 73 career rushing touchdowns, four shy of the NCAA record set by Wisconsin’s Montee Ball. His replacement, Tago Smith, threw an interception in the fourth quarter.Reynolds said the turnovers were too much to overcome. ”Obviously, turning the ball over is always a turning point, and giving them some momentum and some good field position. You can’t do it at all but especially you can’t do it in your own territory. It was inside the red zone both times and that was big for us,” he said. The loss ended an eight-game winning streak for Navy. The Midshipmen came into the game averaging 340 yards rushing a game and finished with 318, but couldn’t overcome the turnovers. The Irish also held Georgia Tech below its average in a win three weeks ago and are now done with the triple option.

ANN ARBOR—Most of Michigan’s defensive starters were on the field and many of the fans were still in the stands in the final minutes of a rout.Jim Harbaugh wanted the shutout.Maize-and-blue clad fans did, too, as they chanted, ”Defense!” and clapped three times in unison on Northwestern’s final drive.Jehu Chesson returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and the 18th-ranked Wolverines scored on offense and defense to build a four-touchdown lead by halftime in a 38-0 victory over the 13th-ranked Wildcats on Saturday.Michigan became the first FBS school to shut out three straight opponents since Kansas State did it in 1995, according to STATS, and pulled off the feat for the first time in program history since 1980.While Harbaugh’s players downplayed the fact that they blanked another team, he acknowledged it meant something.

”Yeah, it’s very meaningful,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh has tried to temper the enthusiasm about his rapidly improving team. After Michigan’s latest win, though, the coach couldn’t help but heap praise.

”The fellas really came out ballin’ right from the start,” Harbaugh said.

Indeed.

”Great performance by them in all three phases,” Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald said.

Michigan (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) has won five straight since its opening loss at Utah under Harbaugh, building momentum going into a showdown at home next week against No. 4 Michigan State.

”We’ll move on even more quickly than usual because it is such a good and worthy opponent,” Harbaugh said. ”And we’ll be looking forward to it.”

The Wildcats (5-1, 1-1) were giving up a nation-low seven points a game and gave that up in the first 13 seconds. They allowed a season-high 21 points in the first quarter alone and struggled on offense, too.The Wolverines scored TDs on a kickoff return, interception and offense for the first time since 1991 at Boston College.With a homecoming crowd already fired up, Chesson kept them buzzing when he raced across the field and up the sideline untouched for a score that seemed to stun the Wildcats.Jabrill Peppers said it was a ”big mistake” to kick away from him and toward Chesson to open the game.

”That definitely sparked everything,” Peppers said.

Michigan ran for scores on its first two possessions on Drake Johnson’s 1-yard plunge and Jake Rudock’s 2-yard scramble to make it 21-0. Jourdan Lewis picked off a pass, snatching the ball away from the intended target, late in the second quarter and returned it 37 yards for a score.Kenny Allen kicked a career-long 47-yard field goal to cap the Wolverines’ opening drive in the second half, giving them a 31-0 lead. Michigan padded the cushion with Derrick Green’s 4-yard TD run that ended a 12-play possession that took 7-plus minutes off the clock.Michigan’s only setback was senior linebacker James Ross’ ejection for targeting. Ross, a key reserve, will have to sit out the first half next week against the Spartans.Rudock passed a test against a highly touted defense, completing 17 of 23 passes for 179 yards without a turnover.

”He’s playing his best football,” Harbaugh said. ”He’s playing really confident, really good.”

Michigan’s De’Veon Smith had eight carries for 59 yards, after missing a game with an injured right ankle, and likely would’ve played more if the game was close.

”We didn’t want to put too much on him,” Harbaugh said.

A.J. Williams had four receptions, doubling his previous career high, for 48 yards and six other Wolverines also caught passes.Northwestern’s Clayton Thorson was 13 of 27 for 106 yards with an interception. Justin Jackson was held to a career-low 25 yards rushing on 12 carries for the Wildcats, who were averaging a Big Ten-best 248.8 yards on the ground and were held to 38 at Michigan.

”That was one of the statements we wanted to make,” Peppers said.

The Wildcats gave two other quarterbacks a chance to play, and none of them were able to do much against Michigan’s defense.

”We just couldn’t get out of our own way, offensively,” Fitzgerald said. ”We’d put something together, we’d get a penalty, we’d get a drop, we’d get a missed assignment. So that’s disappointing, obviously. It starts and ends with me.”

IOWA CITY—Jordan Canzeri rushed for 256 yards on a school-record 43 carries and No. 22 Iowa held off Illinois 29-20 on Saturday for its sixth straight win.C.J. Beathard had 200 yards passing and two TD for the Hawkeyes (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten). They’ve already taken down four Power Five opponents heading into next week’s game against No. 13 Northwestern.Canzeri’s 75-yard touchdown run put Iowa ahead 23-13 late in the third quarter. Geronimo Allison pulled Illinois back within three on a 53-yard TD reception, but freshman Ke’Shawn Vaughn’s fumble with 3:09 left doomed the Illini.Wes Lunt threw for 317 yards and a touchdown for Illinois (4-2, 1-1).

BROOKLYN—Patrick Kane scored on a power play at 1:49 of overtime to give the Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the New York on Friday night, spoiling the Islanders’ debut in Brooklyn.With the Blackhawks awarded an extra skater after a slashing penalty on the Islanders’ Nick Leddy during the 3-on-3 overtime, Kane sent the puck toward the middle of the net from the right side and Jonathan Toews set a screen while fighting off a defender.Kane scored twice and Artem Anisimov also scored for the Blackhawks while Corey Crawford stopped 34 shots. Crawford improved to 4-0-1 in his career against the Islanders and helped the defending Stanley Cup champions bounce back after losing their season opener at home to the New York Rangers two nights earlie.John Tavares and Marek Zidlicky scored for the Islanders. Thomas Greiss, starting in place of the injured Jaroslav Halak, finished with 32 saves. The Hawks & Isles meet again Saturday night at the United Center.

BOULDER—Joffrey Lauvergne had 18 points and eight rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Bulls 112-94 on Thursday night in an exhibition at the University of Colorado’s Coors Event Center.Will Barton had 17 points and Jokic Nikola added 14 for the Nuggets (2-1).Lauvergne has been getting the bulk of the preseason time at center in the absence of starter Jusuf Nurkic, who is sidelined by a left patellar tendon injury.Nikola Mirotic led the Bulls (1-1) with 18 points, making a pair of 3-pointers. Joakim Noah appeared shaken up when he hit the floor hard in a first-quarter tussle for the ball with Kenneth Faried, but he returned to play in the second quarter and finished with five rebounds and two points in 15 minutes.The Nuggets’ Darrell Arthur missed the game with a right hamstring strain. The Bulls’ Derrick Rose is continuing his recovery from a left orbital bone fracture suffered Sept. 29 in the team’s first practice of the season.The Bulls next play the Minnesota Timberwolves in Winnipeg Saturday night.

Oscar Lindberg, Kevin Klein and Derek Stepan scored in the first period, and the New York Rangers ruined the Blackhawks’s Stanley Cup party with a 3-2 victory over the Hawks on Wednesday on the first night of the NHL season.J.T. Miller had two assists and Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves for New York.Cheered on by a sellout crowd of 22,104, with many dressed in their usual red jerseys, the Blackhawks raised the banner for the franchise’s sixth NHL title during a colorful pregame ceremony. Fluorescent balls bounced around the seats and LED wristbands for the fans provided a synchronized lightshow during player introductions and highlight presentations.All-Star winger Patrick Kane, the subject of a sexual assault investigation in western New York, heard loud cheers when he skated onto the ice for the Cup celebration. Kane has not been charged.Artemi Panarin scored in his first NHL game for the Hawks, who are trying to become the first team to defend the title since the Red Wings in 1997-98. Teuvo Teravainen also scored, and Corey Crawford made 24 stops.The Hawks face the New York Islanders the next two games.

Jimmy Butler and Doug McDermott scored 23 points each to lead the Bulls to a 105-95 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night, making new coach Fred Hoiberg a winner in his preseason debut. Rashad Vaughn had a team-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting. . Miles Plumlee had 12 points for the Bucks. Butler was 7 for 12 from the field in 25 minutes. . McDermott, who was 0 for 5 from the field in the first half, scored all his points in the second half on 8-for-14 shooting. . Nikola Mirotic had 18 points and eight rebounds. Derrick Rose (left orbital fracture) and Pau Gasol (rest)along with Kirk Hinrich,Taj Gibson and Mike Dunleavy all didn’t play for the Bulls. … Milwaukee’s Jabari Parker, recovering from ACL surgery last December, won’t play in a preseason game until at least next week, according to coach Jason Kidd.
NOTES—Up next: The Bulls face Denver on Thursday in Boulder, Colorado. … Milwaukee hosts Detroit on Saturday.-+

-As soon as Jay Cutler threw an interception, it looked like the Bears were about to follow the familiar script.Then he and Robbie Gould rewrote the ending to give the Bears their first win under John Fox.Cutler threw for two touchdowns and redeemed himself following that interception by helping set up a 49-yard field goal by Gould in the closing seconds Sunday, leading the Bears to a 22-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

”It’s a big win,” Cutler said. ”Guys are excited. Coaching staff’s excited. We’ve got a good group in there.”

The Raiders (2-2) grabbed the lead on a field goal by Sebastian Janikowski with just over two minutes remaining set up by an interception by Charles Woodson. He picked off a pass thrown behind Martellus Bennett deep in Oakland territory.But Cutler led the Bears (1-3) from its 20 to the Oakland 32 before Gould nailed the winner in the closing seconds.

”I was really happy to see smiles in there,” Fox said. ”I’m really happy for our fans because we haven’t exactly lit it up here at home in the first two opportunities.”

The Bears shook off two embarrassing losses, including their first shutout since 2002 last week at Seattle, to give Fox his first victory since he was hired in the offseason. The win came at the expense of Oakland coach Jack Del Rio, his defensive coordinator in Carolina and Denver. And it capped a busy week that saw Chicago trade Jared Allen to Carolina.Derek Carr threw for 196 yards as Oakland lost after winning two in a row.

”This was just one of those old-fashion NFL fights,” Carr said. ”Down to the wire. There was no lack of focus, or lack of effort. Nothing that would alarm you.”

In the end, there was the Bears standing tall, finally squeezing out a victory in a season that has been nothing short of dismal.Big things were hardly expected of the Bears after a brutal five-win season that cost former coach Marc Trestman and general manager Phil Emery their jobs. They brought in Fox and GM Ryan Pace to turn things around, and this was at least a step.Cutler completed 28 of 43 passes for 281 yards after missing a game because of a strained hamstring. Matt Forte had 91 yards rushing and 64 receiving. Martellus Bennett caught 11 passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. Marquess Wilson added 80 yards receiving. Eddie Royal caught a touchdown on the game’s opening possession.

”Those are the type of wins that you want to see,” Gould said. ”And usually those type of wins catapult a team and give them a lot of confidence for the next week.”

For Oakland, Carr completed 20 of 33 passes with two touchdowns and an interception.Amari Cooper, tops among NFL rookies in catches and yards receiving, had just four receptions for 49 yards. Latavius Murray, coming off a career-high 139-yard performance at Cleveland last week, ran for 49 yards. He had a hand in two turnovers, fumbling a pitch and juggling a pass into Pernell McPhee’s arms for an interception. And he got benched toward the end of the game.Cutler completed 14 of 19 passes for 170 yards and two TDs in the first half, and McPhee set up Gould’s late field goal that made it 16-14 with his first career interception.Even though he felt better during the week, Cutler wasn’t sure he would be ready to play until he warmed up. He said the hamstring limited his mobility, but he still looked sharp, particularly in the early going. And he delivered in the end.

”It’s hard to play an instinctual game and then move and have to realize we can’t exactly do that,” he said. ”On the last drive there I was moving to the right and wasn’t going to go very far so I decided to get down. I tried to save a little time and keep moving. It was a little back and forth throughout the game. I just tried to manage it.”

NOTES–Janikowski matched Hall of Famer Tim Brown’s club record by playing in his 240th game. … The Bears lost C Will Montgomery to a broken leg on the opening possession. Matt Slauson then moved from left guard to center. … S Antrel Rolle injured his right ankle making a tackle early in the third quarter when a teammate hit him and left the game.

CLEMSON—Clemson coach Dabo Swinney learned plenty about his 12th-ranked Tigers on Saturday night, qualities he believes make them hard to beat.Deshaun Watson threw two touchdown passes, ran for a third score and 12th-ranked Clemson withstood No. 6 Notre Dame’s second-half rally for a 24-22 victory.

”This is what it’s all about,” Swinney said. ”It ain’t always perfect. I told them, `Listen, we give you scholarships, we give you stipends and meals, we give you nice uniforms and a place to live. I can’t give you guts. I can’t give you heart.’ … Tonight it was BYOG, bring your own guts. They brought some guts and some heart and they never quit until the last play.”

It took until almost the final play to secure the win, defensive tackle Carlos Watkins stopping Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer on what would’ve been a tying 2-point conversion with 7 seconds left.

”It’s was man versus man, heart versus heart. And he got there. I didn’t lower my shoulder the way I should,” said Kizer, who threw two touchdowns passes and had a scoring run in Notre Dame’s second-half rally.

The Irish (4-1) had four turnovers, all in the second half. Linebacker B.J. Goodson had an interception and a fumble recovery to choke off two Notre Dame chances in the last 7 minutes. Still, the Irish were a play away from overtime – and keeping alive their undefeated season.

”They say the luck of the Irish,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. ”We had some luck, too.”

Like kicker Ammon Lakip getting a helmet on the ball on the second-half kickoff, forcing C.J. Sanders to fumble. Moments later, Watson was in the end zone after a 21-yard run for a 21-3 lead.On Notre Dame’s next series, sure-handed runner C.J. Prosise fumbled with the ball bouncing out to where only Clemson safety Jayron Kearse could recover.

”If you told me we were going to turn the ball over four times, I was going to tell you we would lose,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. ”It doesn’t take a genius (to know) we turned the ball over four times and lost.

Kizer rallied Notre Dame from 21-3 down in the second half with two touchdown passes, the last a 1-yard toss to Torii Hunter Jr.Clemson secured the Notre Dame’s onside kick and closed out the victory, moving to 4-0 for fourth time in five years. It also kept Clemson in the mix for the four-team playoff. The Tigers biggest hurdle appears to be against No. 11 Florida State on Nov. 7, which will likely decide the ACC’s Atlantic Division.The Tigers are thinking about much more.

”We’ve got our eyes on the prize,” cornerback MacKensie Alexander said.

Waterlogged Clemson fans rushed the field when time ran out, celebrating the win over the highest-ranked Tigers opponent since No. 5 Georgia to start the 2013 season. Those title dreams died a few weeks later when undefeated Clemson was stomped by eventual national champion Florida State, which put up the most points ever scored by an opponent in Death Valley in a 51-14 loss.Another loss was surely on many minds as Clemson saw its 18-point lead sliced to two after Hunter’s TD catch.This time, though, the defense held strong.Watson accounted for 190 yards, 93 of those coming on the ground. He had a 21-yard TD run early in third quarter to put the Tigers up 21-3. That’s when Notre Dame’s defense rose up to give its offense a chance to come back.Kizer had a 56-yard scoring pass to C.J. Prosise, Notre Dame’s eighth play this season of at least 50 yards. The Irish closed to 24-16 on Kizer’s 3-yard scoring run to set up the wild final moments.Clemson struck quickly in Notre Dame’s first visit to Death Valley since 1977, with Watson running for 38 yards on the game’s first play. Watson found Leggett moments later for a 6-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead.Clemson kept the pressure on its next series. Watson connected with Hunter Renfrow for a 24-yard pass inside Notre Dame’s 20, before finding Scott for a 13-yard TD and a 14-0 lead as the stunned Irish looked at each other as they headed to the sidelines.The Irish’s only points of the half came on a 46-yard field goal by Justin Yoon.The rainstorm that saturated much of the East Coast was a focus of the week. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – a Clemson graduate whose picture is on one of the Tigers’ offensive play-call signs – told fans to stay home unless they had to attend. The stands, though, were filled with orange ponchos and raincoats as the rain fell.

EVANSTON—Pat Fitzgerald recently challenged his Northwestern defense to have more fun, celebrating the role the dominating unit has played in the Wildcats success this season.His players appear to have gotten the message.Northwestern turned in another impressive performance and Clayton Thorson scored two touchdowns and Justin Jackson ran for 120 yards as the No. 16 Wildcats shut out Minnesota 27-0 on Saturday.The defense has allowed only three touchdowns in five games, and limited Minnesota to only 173 yards and shutting down the Gophers on all four of their fourth down conversion attempts.While confidence has continued to grow for the defense over the first month of the season, beginning Big Ten play with a shutout proved to be a big step for Northwestern (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten). ”We made a statement to the whole Big Ten, but there’s seven games left and right now, this is just one step,” Northwestern senior defensive end Dean Lowry said. Defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster forced a fumble by Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner that linebacker Anthony Walker returned 13 yards for a touchdown that gave the Wildcats a 27-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.Minnesota (3-2, 0-1) turned the ball over twice and struggled to build any rhythm offensively. The Golden Gophers punted seven times, unable to get either the run or pass game going. ”They don’t make mistakes, they do their job,” Minnesota coach Jerry Kill said. ”They did their job today. They played harder than we did.” That made life easy for Thorson – Northwestern’s redshirt freshman quarterback who scored on runs of 5 yards and 1 yard.Thorson’s 1-yard touchdown run gave the Wildcats a 20-0 lead after Minnesota failed on fourth down deep in Northwestern territory. A Jackson 31-yard run helped set up the short scoring run.Kicker Jack Mitchell gave NU a 13-0 lead with a 23-yard field goal with 6:13 remaining in the third quarter. The kick came after a 32-yard, one-handed diving touchdown catch by Solomon Vault was overturned on review. Officials incorrectly determined the ball hit the ground while Vault was tumbling to the ground.It was many awful calls by Officials and replay decision makers.Instead, Mitchell’s field goal finished off a 19-play, 69-yard drive that ate up the first 8:47 of the second half. During the third quarter, Northwestern had possession of the ball for 11 minutes, 26 seconds. ”To chew up that amount of time with (Minnesota) having the wind was critically important for second-half success,” Fitzgerald said. Northwestern led 10-0 at halftime. Thorson scored on a 5-yard touchdown run with 1:36 remaining in the half. Miles Schuler set up the score with a 55-yard punt return, giving the Wildcats the ball at the Minnesota 5.Thorson also passed for 128 yards, connecting on 14 of 19 attempts.Mitchell gave Northwestern with a 3-0 lead midway through the second quarter.Leidner completed 10 of 21 passes while the Gophers running game – led by Shannon Brooks’ 33 yards – covered only 74 yards.