CFB AM: Taylor Swift takes photos while jogging in Notre Dame hoodie

You have to take the wins with the losses, Notre Dame.

Loss: Getting beat handily by Arizona State last weekend, which unofficially eliminated the Fighting Irish from the playoff race.

Win: Pop star Taylor Swift is a huge fan of yours and openly reps the Irish.

This might be the best thing to happen to Notre Dame this year, if the Irish can parlay it into a recruiting advantage.

Recently, when Swift was taking a jog around a Nashville park, she stopped to take a couple pictures with young fans.

What was she wearing? A Notre Dame hoodie, which instantly brings the Irish brand from the "Rudy" era into the 21st century and gives something head coach Brian Kelly can sell to teenagers who might or might not be interested in famous women.

Why is Swift a Notre Dame fan, of all schools?

Her brother apparently goes to school there, and Swift recently stopped by campus to watch a play he was acting in. What a good sister.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Josh Shaw, the USC cornerback who became a national story earlier this fall after he lied about how he injured both of his ankles, finally opened up about the incident and why he made up a story about saving his nephew from drowning. The real story is he got into a loud dispute with his girlfriend and then jumped off his apartment balcony when he saw authorities on the street below (a neighbor had called the police). Because police were called, it led to a domestic violence case, which he’s expected to be cleared of. With two games left – next weekend at UCLA, then the following week at home against Notre Dame – we’ll see if the senior plays again for the Trojans. Hard to see how he could after being away from the team for so long.

USC played Thursday night and beat Cal, 38-30, with Nelson Agholor catching 16 passes for 216 yards and two TDs. The Trojans are already looking ahead to the Bruins, writes Gary Klein.

Last thing: Cal attempted possibly the worst fake punt of the year. What is this?

2. A two-year-old email released in the ongoing Penn State legal case shows the Nittany Lions avoided the death penalty in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal only because of its "cooperation and transparency," according to an NCAA attorney. That would have been an egregious misuse of the NCAA’s power. It’s not that Penn State didn’t deserve to face harsh consequences, it’s that nobody should trust the NCAA to be the authoritative body to levy those kinds of penalties, particularly in a case that has little to do with sports.

3. Cincinnati beat East Carolina, 54-46, on Thursday night after surviving a total brainfart by Bearcats coach Tommy Tuberville. Up 45-40 with a couple minutes to play and faced with fourth-and-two at his own 33-yard line, Tuberville called this play:

ECU would score a TD to go up 46-45 (it failed on a two-point attempt), but Cincinnati would add a field goal and TD to win. After the game, Tuberville called his decision "stupid." Pretty apt word choice.

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1. Florida State might have secured its future at QB on Thursday, as five-star 2016 recruit Malik Henry committed to the Seminoles. Jameis Winston is most likely gone after this season, which means someone will have to handle the job in 2015 before Henry can get on campus and compete for it a season after that. Quite a coup for Jimbo Fisher, too, considering Henry is out of Westlake Village, California, a notable football school in the Los Angeles area. FSU probably had to beat out every major West Coast school, along with Auburn, Notre Dame and a host of other national programs.

2. FSU and Ole Miss will open the 2016 season against each other on Monday, Sept. 5. If you’ve forgotten, that weekend was already going to be an incredible one for college football. Games schedule for Sept. 3, 2016: Alabama-USC, LSU-Wisconsin, UCLA-Texas A&M, Notre Dame-Texas and Clemson-Auburn. Now we add Noles-Rebs to the mix. Oh, man.

3. Lane Kiffin is just trolling the media now that he’s forbidden from speaking during the regular season thanks to Nick Saban’s rules. On Thursday, Kiffin photobombed a Tom Rinaldi TV hit inside the Alabama football offices.

THREE THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW

1. The sweater vest that Auburn coach Gus Malzahn wore in last season’s Iron Bowl will be auctioned off and apparently could fetch $20,000. That’s a cool piece of sports memorabilia and all, but damn, I can think of many better ways to spend 20 grand.

2. Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford said being fired by Oklahoma State seven years ago was one of the best things that could have happened to him. He then went back to Michigan, then coached at Florida and Louisville with Charlie Strong before Strong brought him to Texas. The Longhorns play in Stillwater this weekend.

3. It could be in the 20s for LSU’s game at Arkansas this weekend, so LSU’s assistant AD is preparing for those temps by going to practice shirtless.

LASTLY

* The rivalry week stunts are starting early. Some USC fans spray painted "USC runs LA" on UCLA’s bear statue.

* We’ll leave you with this fun Mississippi State-Alabama hype video to get ready for the weekend’s biggest game.

Enjoy Week 12, everyone.

Teddy Mitrosilis is an editor and writer for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.