Notre Dame Given 'Rat Poison' by Josh Pate as Fall Camp Set to Open

College football is very much in the air this week as plenty has already happened, although it's only Wednesday.

Notre Dame and USC announced the renewal of their rivalry on Monday, while Tuesday saw the preseason AFCA Coaches Poll released where the Fighting Irish check-in at No. 5.

Furthermore, Marcus Freeman met the media on Tuesday, as fall camp officially gets underway on Thursday morning.

All of this as the countdown to Notre Dame's season opener against Wisconsin is on for the Lambeau Field affair on September 6.

Ahh, breathe it in. College football is in the air, which means predictions are coming out by national media members with full energy - and Notre Dame finds itself in a spot it hasn't been in a very long time.

Josh Pate Gives Notre Dame the Ultimate 'Rat Poison'

Notre Dame will enter the 2026 season in relatively unfamiliar territory: as one of the clear favorites to win the national championship. Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN picked the Irish to win it all just days ago, and now more are joining the fold.

Sure, people here or there have picked Notre Dame to win it all in recent years, but very few national media members have made such a pick.

That is, until this preseason.

Josh Pate of Yahoo, ESPN, and On3 released his preseason College Football Playoff prediction and has Notre Dame beating Texas in the national championship game.

CFP Prediction Version 1.0 pic.twitter.com/yVsTvBQUJh
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) August 5, 2026

These picks and praise are of course the "rat poison" that legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban used to talk about having the potential to disrupt the focus of a team.

Pate has been high on Notre Dame for 2026 from the second last season ended and this prediction certainly goes hand-in-hand with that.

Notre Dame winning it all would make every Fighting Irish fan's dreams come true, but beating Oregon, Indiana, and finally Texas in order to do it would make things somehow even sweeter.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thought

Notre Dame being listed as the national championship pick by one of the biggest names going in college football media right now speaks to the state of the program under Marcus Freeman.

Not only does it have a star coaching staff, but perhaps its most talented and deepest roster since the height of the Lou Holtz era.

Regardless of if Notre Dame wins it all or not, the fact Pate is picking it to win it all shows just how much this program has grown in recent years.

Not all that long ago, Notre Dame was viewed as a team that could make the Playoff, but one that wasn't going to make any noise when it got there.

The belief that Notre Dame has a glass ceiling on its potential has been blown up.

Ready for the demands of fall camp.#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/h3kbnX9PTE
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 4, 2026

However, it is worth noting that Pate picked Alabama to beat Oregon in the national championship game last season.

Alabama was manhandled by Indiana in the Rose Bowl (quarterfinals) while Oregon bowed out to the Hoosiers in the Peach Bowl (semifinals).

Here's to hoping Pate's picks come a bit closer to hitting the bullseye in 2026.

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