The Irish must finish strong down the stretch, starting with Navy and then Miami.
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With the emergence of NIL money being spread more evenly across the top quadrant of teams in the sport, there is no longer one dominant program that appears to be a heavy title favorite that is head and shoulders above the rest. Parity truly is the name of the game in 2026, with several teams showing signs of greatness followed by showings of mediocre play.
The question now is who rises and who falls as November football tests teams' depth and maturity.
The country is in a holding pattern regarding Notre Dame
Regarding Notre Dame specifically, the Irish find themselves in an interesting and tedious spot. Nobody quite knows which Notre Dame team is the real one. Is it the team that dominated its first six opponents all by double digits?
Or the one that laid a fat egg on the biggest stage with a chance to become the number one team in America against the only ranked team on the front part of the schedule?
Evaluating the Irish on the off week is such a hard task because there have been six very solid contests on one side of the ledger, but the "big game" result, which must be weighted more than the first six, was subpar at best, depressing at worst.
This is where November football reveals the truth. It separates the contenders from pretenders.
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) October 25, 2026
Notre Dame will get its shot at redemption soon enough
This part of Notre Dame's scheduling feels peculiar. The Irish are coming off an off week to face Navy, a game that has very little juice to it, with the Irish coming off a loss and a week off, and Miami heading to South Bend the next week. If Notre Dame can handle the Midshipmen, a chance at big game redemption will present itself.
The best thing that can happen for Notre Dame after the BYU performance is to get a shot at the number one team in the country, who just happens to be a hated rival, at home and at night. If Notre Dame rights the ship and defeats the Hurricanes, the negativity surrounding the team will melt away, and the Irish are right back in prime playoff position.
But should the Irish falter again in the big moment, the narrative will once again focus on a two-loss Irish team's CFP merits compared to every other team's record and results. But in order for the discussion to evolve this far, Notre Dame must avoid anything spooky happening on Halloween against Navy.
There's never a dull moment in Notre Dame land, and the way this season has unfolded is the latest example. Buckle up for the home stretch, football fans.
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Founder and content creator of the Always Irish LLC Notre Dame Football social media, podcast, and radio show brand since 2016 covering all things Irish football daily from the fan's perspective. Previously Notre Dame Football staff writer for USA TODAY Fighting Irish Wire before joining Notre Dame On SI. Known as the “voice of the Irish fan.”