The Clock Is Ticking For Notre Dame: The Big Games Are Coming

It's rare that Notre Dame has a schedule set up the way the 2026 one is laid out. Normally, the Irish have a front-loaded slate with at least one or two "marquee" matchups in the first month against national contenders with deep and athletic rosters.

This was certainly the case last year, and the Irish failed the test with an 0-2 start, suffering painful one-score losses to Miami and Texas A&M.

This season is much different, as Notre Dame won't face a ranked opponent until week seven in a road trip to BYU. And in the six games leading up to the BYU tilt, the Irish have been and will be favored by double digits in each contest.

Notre Dame must take full advantage of all of these games to work out the kinks and be fully ready for the meaty part of the schedule. With that in mind, there are a few areas that need to be monitored.

The Notre Dame game must get rolling earlier in games

So far this year, a trend has emerged. Against the two better defenses the Irish have faced, Wisconsin and Michigan State, the Notre Dame run game got off to slow starts and then put together better numbers later in the second halves as these undermanned teams wore down. To defeat teams like BYU and Miami, the run game must find a groove earlier in games.

So far, through four games, including two against terrible defenses in Purdue and Rice, the Irish rushing attack ranks 98th in the country, averaging just under 142 yards per game.

That's good enough to beat the four teams Notre Dame has played, but may not be good enough to get by BYU and Miami.

Whether Irish fans want to blame Joe Rudolph, the offensive line itself, or the new crop of backs replacing Love and Price, these numbers must improve in the next two games before the BYU trip to instill confidence. This is Notre Dame. Notre Dame runs the football. It must get better and fast.

3️⃣ in the AP Poll#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/uagmRtbMQH
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 27, 2026

CJ Carr could use more help from wide receivers

The Irish pass game numbers are better than the run game numbers, thanks to CJ Carr, who is ready to take the Notre Dame offense to the next level, but he needs some more help. August camp featured 15 Irish receivers, yet only two of them have emerged as reliable playmakers.

Jordan Faison is who he is. Always reliable and always slippery to defend. Thankfully, Micah Gilbert has also stepped up and has become a more consistent and reliable target the past two weeks. What about everyone else?

Notre Dame will need more out of this group to make a deep playoff run. Who else can emerge, and why haven't any of the younger players seen much action in the two deep early in games? These are questions the Irish must find quick answers to.

Notre Dame's defense is elite; it's one of, if not the best, in the country. The team is also ranked third in the country, having outscored opponents 169-33 so far this year.

This is a very good team with a lot to like, but being very good isn't the goal this year; winning a title is. And Notre Dame must start getting more out of the offense to accomplish that lofty goal.

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