My friends, in the wake of such economic strife and political division, America needs a unifying moment. That moment, I believe, comes today as college football returns.

The last several months have been a barren wasteland of football-less days, but we can finally rejoice here in the official "Week Zero" of the college football season. I, for one, feel as though I'm beginning to heal. I hope you are, too.

There are a handful of interesting games today, including Notre Dame's Fightin' Irish against Navy in Dublin, Ireland, that we're looking at. But even as we're still in the early part of the season and the classic rivalry games won't be for a bit, what's important is that we can gather, as one, around our televisions and take part in the greatest of American traditions: Mindless devotion to a collection of college athletes beating the hell out of each other on a large field.

Here are the games to watch this week.

Notre Dame (13) vs. Navy

Tá Notre Dame sa Bhaile

🆚 Navy
📆 Saturday, Aug. 26
📍 Dublin, Ireland (Aviva Stadium)
🕢 2:30 pm ET
📺 NBC #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/kV3Fool7ux

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 26, 2023

Go Irish. Interested in seeing what Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman is going to do for the Irish this week and throughout the season. Will be exciting to see, given his stellar career at Wake Forest. Second-year coach Marcus Freeman seemingly has nowhere to go but up after an up-and-down first season leading the Irish last year, but Hartman is a definite plus.

USC (6) vs. San Jose State

⚠️ IT’S GAME WEEK! ⚠️

Kicking off the tour at home… 🏠

🗓️ This Saturday 8/26
⌚️ 5:00 PM PT
📍 @lacoliseum
📺 @Pac12Network
🎟️ https://t.co/QPV7vGTg8u

Y’all ready? ‼️👀✌️ pic.twitter.com/vW9bGA5xNG

— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) August 22, 2023

The Trojans have plenty of reasons to be positive this year, but they also have one big question to answer: Do they have a defense? Last year's Pac-12 title game suggested they did not, so what changes have they made between then and now? San Jose State has a lot of offensive ability, and their first test of the season is against a Top 10 team. But if USC's defense starts out the season as they ended it last year, San Jose will pick it apart.

It's Tailgating Season

It's hot as all hell throughout most of the country, but that's not going to stop Americans who are ready to get out and share in the celebration of college football this year. We've even entered the era of a new American Imperialism, bringing American tailgating to the shores of Ireland.

The amount of people in Dublin for the American Football matches is… a lot. At lot of people, at the very least. pic.twitter.com/fI8MqfLLL5

— Nicky Ryan (@NickyRyan_) August 26, 2023

As someone living in 105 degree late August in south Louisiana, I can assure you that, next week, every college town with a home game in the sweltering south is going to be braving the heatwave and grilling and drinking to their hearts' content. This is America, damnit, and we're going to welcome back this great season. It's time to break out the chips and dips and beers and barbecue.

God bless America, and happy football season, everyone.