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It was crunch time on Saturday at Notre Dame.

Not only for the Irish, who were struggling to preserve a 26-game home winning streak, but for Cincinnati, which realized this was one of their last major obstacles towards clearing the highway for a CFP semifinal playoff berth--something no Group of 5 team had ever accomplished.


The unbeaten Bearcats and quarterback Desmond Ridder had done their job fairly well in building a  solid 17-0 second half lead.

But this was Notre Dame, it was South Bend and when the game moved into the fourth quarter, the score had narrowed to 17-13, Cincinnati had missed a chip shot field goal and there was Irish magic in the air in the shadow of the Golden Dome.

It was then that the 6-foot-4 inch, 215--und Ridder showed that the decision to return for his senior season started to come into clearer focus.

The momentum was slipping away from Cincinnati, as well as their CFP dreams which still are only in the formative stages.

In dramatic, no nonsense fashion, Ridder took control of the game, ending a scoring drive with a six yard scoring run to increase Cincinnati's lead to 24-13.  

Also included in that 297 yard, 2 TD pass performance was  a key 36 yard connection to tight end Leonard Taylor to preserve the potentially game-saving drive.

Ridder, knowing that 5 games does not make a season, had the proper perspective.

""It's still mid season,'' he said. "So we've got a lot of games left to play. But it was obvious a big win against a Top 10 team. Hopefully, we can keep going.''

As long as Ridder stays healthy, Cincinnati can advance, but it needed to clear the ND hurdle, which is why Ridder is TMG's Newsmaker of The Week.