The Next Step For Notre Dame Under Marcus Freeman

Notre Dame is in an uncomfortable yet familiar position

Notre Dame's goal for 2025, just like every other team around the country, is to make the CFP field. Unfortunately, due to the Irish's multiple stumbles in early September, reaching this goal will be an uphill climb.

The Irish find themselves in a must-win scenario for the rest of the regular season. Each game is a CFP elimination game, and even at 10-2 there are no guarantees of Notre Dame making the field. The bad news is that this makes for an intense and stressful journey the rest of the way.

The good news? Notre Dame proved in 2024 that the Irish are capable of ripping off a mega-winning streak, especially with a schedule that lightens up the second half of the year.

The stakes are high, the goal is clear, and all that is left to do is see if Notre Dame can win 10 games in a row, a tough ask for sure, but not an impossible one.

𝙂𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠

𝙄𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙒𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙣
🆚 Boise State
📍 South Bend, Indiana
📅 Saturday, Oct. 4
🕞 3:30 PM ET
📺 NBC | Peacock#GoIrish☘️ | @tirerack pic.twitter.com/ZsdIVrAvpE
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 29, 2025

This is the next step Notre Dame must take under Marcus Freeman

Plenty has been written and spoken about Notre Dame's ability to "bounce back" after letdowns, most notably the 11-game winning streak the Irish went on last season after a brutal Week 2 loss at the hands of Northern Illinois in South Bend.

While I appreciate Notre Dame's bounce-back ability after letdown games, the next step for this program is to be good enough early enough in seasons that there doesn't need to be a bounce-back. While 2024's run was extremely impressive, it's very rare. The Irish cannot expect to go on 10-11 game winning streaks each year to secure a playoff spot.

Notre Dame must find a way moving forward to reach midseason with some CFP leeway, having a game or two in their pocket of margin, should the Irish have an off day or run into a hot team late in the season.

If the Irish lose a game under this scenario, they can still make the CFP. And if there are no losses in this stretch, a CFP home game or bye awaits. This is a premier position.

Sep 20, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman and quarterback CJ Carr (13) sing the alma mater after beating the Purdue Boilermakers at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

I respect Notre Dame for scheduling the way they do, but opening games in back-to-back years in College Station and at Miami is a tough ask.

Perhaps one of these years, the Irish can begin with a home game against a lesser team to ease into the season, or at the very least, host one of these mega-matchups.

As for the rest of 2025, all Notre Dame can do is win one game a week and hope for chaos around the country.

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