Notre Dame, after routing USC Saturday night, cracked the top 10 of the Associated Press college football poll for the first time this season Sunday.

The Irish, who improved to 6-1 after trouncing the Trojans 49-14 at home, check in at No. 9.

Michigan, which was blown out by No. 2 Penn State Saturday night, fell out of the rankings for the first time in two years.

A week after a rash of upsets gave the poll a shake-up, the first eight teams in the Top 25 released Sunday were unchanged.  Alabama remains a unanimous No. 1 in the media poll. Penn State is No. 2, and Georgia is No. 3. Georgia handed Notre Dame its lone loss, 20-19 in South Bend.

Undefeated  TCU and Wisconsin round out the top five.

The Irish jumped four spots after beating then ranked No. 11 USC for their fifth straight win.

Michigan played in the weekend’s other big game and lost to Penn State 42-13. The Wolverines (5-2) had been 19th.

It hasn’t been that long since Notre Dame was ranked in the top 10. The Irish spent most of the 2015 season there and were 10th to start 2016. Then they stumbled to 4-8 last year.

The Irish have slowly made their way up the rankings this season, jumping in briefly, falling out and then climbing steadily from 22 to 21 to 16 to 13. This is the 32nd time in seven-plus seasons under coach Brian Kelly that Notre Dame has appeared in the top 10 of the AP poll.

In 13 seasons under previous coaches Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis, the Irish were ranked in the top 10 32 times.

Notre Dame still has home games left versus North Carolina State, Wake Forest and Navy and road games at Miami (Florida) and Stanford.

This is the 98th time Alabama is ranked No. 1, tying Notre Dame at No. 3 on the all-time list. The Crimson Tide are idle next week (so there’s 99), and they play No. 23 LSU on Nov. 4. Ohio State has the record with 105 times at No. 1, followed by Oklahoma with 101.

With seven more polls left this season, including the final one after the College Football Playoff national championship, Alabama can tie the Buckeyes basically by winning out.

Michigan moved into the top 25 on Sept. 27, 2015, after the fourth game of Jim Harbaugh’s tenure as coach and had been there ever since. But after the Wolverines’ second loss in three games, sandwiched between an overtime win against Indiana, they landed second among the others receiving votes this week.

USC dropped 11 spots to No. 21 after its second loss of the season. The Trojans entered the season as a top-five team and the Pac-12 favorites. USC is still in first place in the Pac-12 South, with control of its path to the conference title game, but their playoff hopes are pretty much shot.

RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 2 Penn State at No. 6 Ohio State. The Buckeyes are the Big Ten team looking for revenge this week.

No. 4 TCU at No. 25 Iowa State. Didn’t quite see this as a major hurdle for a playoff contender last month, but here we are.

No. 14 North Carolina State at No. 9 Notre Dame. Major playoff implications for two teams that started the season unranked.

No. 11 Oklahoma State at No. 23 West Virginia. Two of the teams in a five-way tie for second in the Big 12 race, one game behind TCU.