Notre Dame Needs a September Sweep to Stay on Track in 2026

One of the more unique and special aspects of college football is that it features the shortest regular season in all of sports. Each team gets 12 games to prove itself, and each win or loss carries major weight.

Take care of business, and you are in good shape. Stumble a time or two, and the season's goals are in serious jeopardy, especially as an independent.

As it pertains to Notre Dame specifically, for all the great things Marcus Freeman has accomplished in South Bend, he hasn't figured out the month of September, and it has been costly. This must change for the Irish to be a yearly CFP competitor.

Marcus Freeman's body of work in September

In Freeman's first season, 2022, Notre Dame started the year 0-2 with losses to Ohio State on the road and, inexplicably, Marshall at home in South Bend. In 2023, the Irish started out with a 4-0 record before falling to Ohio State at home in late September.

2024 featured a heroic night win at Texas A&M, followed by the upset of the year at the hands of Northern Illinois in week two. And of course, most recently, the Irish started out 0-2 in 2025, dropping games to Miami and Texas A&M.

For a program as relevant and competitive as Notre Dame has been, this September record is brutal. Sure, in 2024, the Irish overcame the Northern Illinois loss to run the table all the way to the verge of a title, but that is an outlier. The reality is, Notre Dame must perform better in September to ensure more bites at the CFP apple.

Losing early doesn't necessarily eliminate CFP hopes and dreams, but it drastically minimizes the margin for error the rest of each season. These early losses mean the Irish need to essentially be perfect the rest of the way to have a chance at CFP glory, and this is simply unsustainable.

The 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣ Notre Dame Football schedule is here ☘️

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— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) January 23, 2026

Scheduling and preparation

Notre Dame never turns down an opportunity to play a marquee opponent, and due to conference scheduling, oftentimes other teams can or are only willing to face Notre Dame early in the season.

There are positives and negatives to being Independent, and this is one of the downsides. It is what it is, and Notre Dame must handle these moments better moving forward.

Marcus Freeman and his staff must re-evaluate how they self-prepare and self-scout in August, leading into the season opening.

The program cannot afford to be fully prepared for these early- season moments where the team seems out of sorts and players that do not make winning plays play too much, putting the entire season at risk, like in 2025, for example.

Marcus Freeman has done a wonderful job at Notre Dame overall, but he must tighten up his preparation and evaluation processes moving forward to ensure better season starts.

Fortunately, the 2026 slate is much lighter than any of the previous four, and this provides a terrific chance for a much-needed September sweep.