Frank Reich Preparing Showdown with Notre Dame, Final Game at Stanford

Full steam ahead. Coming off of a big win over Cal, the Stanford Cardinal will play one final contest in 2025, a home game against No. 9 Notre Dame. Sitting at 4-7, a win would give the Cardinal their most wins in a full season since 2018, while their win in the Big Game snapped their streak of 3-9 seasons at four straight.

But this week, another rivalry game, this time against Notre Dame. awaits. The Cardinal will be eager to prove themselves against a high caliber team like the Fighting Irish this time around. Meeting for the 38th time and coming off of a 49-7 road loss to Notre Dame last season, the Cardinal are a team on a mission this week.

Led by redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr, the Fighting Irish started the season off very slow, losing their first two games of the season to Miami and Texas A&M. But since then, they have looked like arguably the best team in college football, currently on a nine-game winning streak and holding a 9-2 record.

Ranked as the No. 9 team in the nation, another win for the Fighting Irish all but cements them a spot in the College Football Playoff and another shot at a national championship game appearance.

After beating Syracuse 70-7 last week, being up 35-0 at one point in the first quarter, the Fighting Irish are clearly on a tear right now and will need to add another win this week in order to keep their national title hopes alive, a season after finishing as the national runner-ups.

Stanford has not made a bowl game since 2018, and while they're out of the running again this season, a win over Notre Dame to end the 2025 season on a two-game winning streak could lead the Cardinal to having a lot of momentum heading into a pivotal offseason, and give them a lot of confidence heading into 2026.

Expected to hire a new full-time head coach very soon, setting up the new coach for long-term, sustainable success will be vital.

As is the case each and every week, interim head coach Frank Reich spoke with the media on Monday morning to discuss the state of affairs heading into game day against Notre. Here are this week's takeaways from what coach Reich said in what is expected to be his final game week presser at Stanford University.

Stanford Not Fazed By Notre Dame's Reputation

Despite being an independent program for most of its history, Notre Dame is still one of the most successful and storied programs in all of college football.

Having six Heisman winners, three College Football Playoff appearances, five national runner-up finishes, 11 claimed national titles and 11 unclaimed national titles to go along with the endless list of NFL legends that have come from the program, Notre Dame is unquestionably a national powerhouse, ranked No. 9 this season.

But despite the reputation that the program has built for itself, Reich and company are not fazed by how good Notre Dame is and are ready for the challenge this game will bring.

"I think they're locked in," Reich said. "Obviously this team that we're playing is very good. So that's where all our focus needs to be. And I think, as a player, you enjoy playing the legacy programs of teams that have earned that reputation. It's an opportunity to measure our program against someone like that, and to really be in the spotlight against a very good team."

Last season, Stanford went on the road to face Notre Dame, but got blown out 49-7 in what was just one of the many lows of Stanford's 2024 campaign. But now full of momentum and confidence after the win over Cal, and playing Notre Dame at home this time around, the Cardinal are hopeful that they can move the needle and finish the first season of the Andrew Luck era on a high note.

Elijah Brown's Performance Gives a Little Bit of Hope for the Future

Brown showed moments of struggle in the win over Cal, completing only 50% of his passes while continuing to take sacks—sometimes in very unnecessary situations—but also showed a lot of promise in his very first Big Game start.

Throwing a touchdown pass to CJ Williams early in the fourth quarter, Brown's pass on that play was a perfect ball that allowed Williams to catch it over the shoulder and easily find the end zone, helping Stanford extend its lead. Stanford's long-term quarterback situation is murky, but if Brown plays like that, he could keep himself in the conversation to be Stanford's quarterback of the future.

"Extremely poised, very accurate," Reich said. "Nothing is too big for him. I thought he had a really good two weeks of practice, leading into this game, and then in the second half, when he needed to make plays, he made the plays.

"That's what we've seen from him, his ability to do that [and he] throws the deep ball really well. Hit some big sail routes, some big chunk plays there that really required, one of them in particular to CJ, some high level finesse throw on a back shoulder sail route.

"That was something we practiced and anticipated, and he was able to execute that at a high level. And I just felt like he played with a lot of confidence in the second half. We were poor in the first half."

Brown's early season struggles brought on a lot of questions about whether or not he was fit to be Stanford's long-term quarterback. And while those questions still persist, he could at least earn the chance to compete for the job again next season against whichever quarterback the Cardinal try to acquire this offseason.

Jeremiyah Love Could be the Best Running Back Stanford Has Faced All Season

The Cardinal's defense has been tested many times this season, especially in the run game, and has faced a lot of good running backs this season. But none have been quite as good as Notre Dame star Jeremiyah Love, who is among the nation's leaders in rushing.

A prospective NFL draft pick, most likely a first rounder, Love has 185 carries for 1,306 yards and 17 touchdowns, and will surely challenge Stanford.

"He's super explosive, he's got the 20 touch," Reich said. "I haven't looked at a bunch of the tape, but I've kind of looked at the overview of their personnel, and talked with our guys, talked with our defensive staff, meeting with Coach Thompson and getting his perspective on a little bit on the offense we're facing. So a great back. He's got more long touchdown runs than anybody you've seen all year."

Notre Dame as a whole will be the toughest test Stanford will face all season, but facing Love in itself will be a challenge. Luckily, coming off of a dominant performance over Cal, Stanford's defense will look to lean into that and deliver another strong game against a national title contender.

Mitch Leigber Is Making Progress

In the midst of all the chaos from beating Cal, Stanford did suffer some scrapes and bruises along the way. Safety Mitch Leigber was injured in the fourth quarter of action and did not return, sparking some concern about his health for this week. And while his game status is still TBD, it does sound like Leigber avoided anything major and could look to play this week.

"He's doing pretty well," Reich said. "Meeting we had last night, it was good reports on Mitch. And so we really wanted to see how he responded today, but it was probably as good a news as possible last night, but we're still not completely out of the woods. Need to check in, check back in with the docs and the trainers today."

Stanford will want to be as healthy as possible against Notre Dame, needing everything that they've got in order to pull off a win. And if the Cardinal are able to get Leigber back, it will be a major boost to a red-hot defense that provided a pair of scores on Saturday.

Reich Not Focused on This Possibly Being His Final Game at Stanford

Oct 25, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Stanford Cardinal interim head coach Frank Reich reads a play card against the Miami Hurricanes during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

When Reich was brought in to be the interim head coach for this season, the expectation was always that this was only a one season arrangement.

Now, with the Cardinal approaching the final regular season game and their chances of a bowl game essentially over, it is very likely that the game against Notre Dame will be the final game that Reich coaches at Stanford.

And while that thought has crossed his mind, he is not focused on that at all and is instead fully locked in on game planning for Notre Dame.

"Right now, my focus is so much on Notre Dame," Reich said. "I'll have plenty of time to make plans, so right now, the only plans I'm making are how to get a first down against Notre Dame, you know what I mean? How to score touchdowns, how to get the most out of this season.

"This has been an unbelievable experience with this team, the players, the coaches, the whole thing has been incredible. And so in order to get the full experience and the full enjoyment out of it, I've got to pour everything I have into this, into this week.

"And so that's really all I'm thinking about right now. There's plenty of time out there for other stuff when this season is over. But right now, we're in lockdown mode getting ready for Notre Dame."

Reich's time with Stanford may be nearing its end, but there would be no better way to go out than delivering a Big Game win, followed by a win over Notre Dame in your final games. And with everything that Reich has done for the program this season, it is only right that he does everything he can to put the Cardinal in the best position to succeed against one of college football's top teams.

Stanford Not Fazed By Notre Dame's Reputation

Elijah Brown's Performance Gives a Little Bit of Hope for the Future

Jeremiyah Love Could be the Best Running Back Stanford Has Faced All Season

Mitch Leigber Is Making Progress

Reich Not Focused on This Possibly Being His Final Game at Stanford

Recommended Articles: