The Big Game Narrative Around Notre Dame Football Is Dead

The Irish have closed the talent gap; now it's time to execute in all of the big games. Notre Dame is good enough to win everything.

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr (13) and head coach Marcus Freeman during the Blue-Gold spring game at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, April 25, 2026, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For the last 25 or so years, there has been a consistent theme for Notre Dame when facing off against the best teams in the biggest of games.

The Irish always entered these moments with a talent deficit compared to the opponent.

Even in years where Notre Dame had undefeated regular season records, the roster was inevitably exposed by a deeper, more talented, and more athletic team. Let's examine why this matters so much and how different things are now.

The Old Version of Notre Dame Doesn't Exist Anymore

Under the old prevailing dynamic, even some really good regular season Notre Dame teams would enter big games and playoff moments at a clear talent, athlete, and depth deficit.

This meant that although the score always starts out 0-0, the Irish had ground to make up instantly due to the roster differentials.

This uneven talent level meant that if both teams played reasonably well and cleanly, Notre Dame would likely suffer defeat.

For the Irish to have a chance to win these games late, not only did the Irish have to play nearly flawless and terrific football, but the opposition needed to play poorly and make mistakes to give Notre Dame a shot to win these games.

More often than not, these games did not end up in Notre Dame's favor as the talent gap was simply too much to overcome no matter what the Irish tried or how hard they played - see the playoff years of 2018 and 2020 as prime examples - facing off with Clemson and Alabama.

This talent gap, more than anything else, is what has held Notre Dame back and prevented another title from becoming a reality. But that's all changing now, and so too is how we should view Notre Dame in these matchups.

BREAKING: Four-Star WR Julius Jones Jr. has Committed to Notre Dame, he tells me for @Rivals

The 5’11 180 WR chose the Fighting Irish over Miami and Oregon

“FLORIDADAME BIH!”https://t.co/0NfxG1Awl6 pic.twitter.com/P0ymVxbjOm

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 22, 2026

Notre Dame's talent level is rising year by year

For all of the complaints about the state of the modern college football game, Notre Dame is succeeding in the NIL era. The talent and depth entering the Irish program is undeniable and is about to pay off big time.

Never in my adult life, until recently, did I believe Notre Dame could be tied for the most blue-chip recruits in a recruiting class, but here we are, as the Irish have 16 of them in the 2027 class with the possibility of soon adding even more.

Notre Dame is starting to stack top-five recruiting classes together, combined with being major players in the portal market, and this is a recipe for long-term success. Notre Dame can now match up and play with any team in the country.

The question entering "big" games is no longer how can Notre Dame make up for the talent gap, it's can the Irish execute well.

This reality shift is massive and changes the entire dynamic for Notre Dame moving forward. The Irish have literally leveled the playing field, and this could very well lead to the Irish's first title since 1988.