Here is one of her comments about the game.

Notre Dame’s head coach, Steve Sarkisian, is a maestro when it comes to crafting run-heavy game plans. His penchant for keeping the ball on the ground isn’t just about playing it safe; it’s about asserting dominance, yard by hard-fought yard. Will Sarkisian’s ground game stratagem pay dividends once more?

Click to expand...

Here is the link.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/notre-dame-over-clemson-saturday/ar-AA1jkNhi

I’m going to pull a Tyler from Spartanburg on him.

Coach with zero experience.
What did you expect

Hartman won the game the way that Book would have won it. But Book would have beat OSU too

This game against Clemson is going to be a close hard fought game. Even though Clemson is 4 and 4, they very easily could be 7-1. They lost to Florida State and Miami in overtime and lost to NC-State by one touchdown - and lost those games primarily by their own mistakes. Against Florida State they missed a game winning chip shot field goal and early was driving late to go up by 2 touchdowns when they fumbled deep in Florida State territory and FSU scooped and scored.

In addition to a great defense that smothers the running game, this game will be played at Clemson. And Notre Dame has not exactly sparkled on the road this season. The Saving Grace for ND is their own defense. I think Clemson is going to have a hard time scoring unless ND pulls a Clemson and starts turning the ball over.

I predict a 20-7 win for the Irish.

Looking for Insider thoughts on the primary reason ND is not in contention for a playoff spot. Offensive inconsistency? Coaching blunders?
My take is scheduling which falls at the feet of Swarbrick. ND looked gassed in the Louisville game, 7 weeks in a row without a bye and in the middle of mid term exams. Both ND and Louisville had open dates 10/21 so why not schedule then on tail end of Fall break? Even Lou Holtz teams struggled at mid term time. Stanford comes to mind in NDs heyday, as does the 1988 Navy game #8 in a row that was a tough slog for an exhausted team. I watched from the stands of Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, a hushed largely ND crowd as the officials walked all the way around the down marker several times before declaring a Navy turnover on downs and a collective exhale. Before that point a victory was uncertain even for the squad that secured NDs last natty. It seems incomprehensible how our AD would put this year’s team in that position knowing that our players need to study to maintain the academic standards that help underly the “4 for 40” mantra. Look forward to your thoughts…

It's the perfect overcast and chilly fall day for football in South Bend.

Let's get the game thread rolling.

We will use this game thread as the primary home for game commentary from now until after the game. We have some rules we'll ask you to follow, which will be included below.

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Here's hoping my flight to South Carolina doesn't get pushed back even later this afternoon.

Let's get this thread open to hear your score predictions for ND-Clemson.

@Eric Hansen and I shared our predictions in this week's Place Your Bets video.

Eric went with Notre Dame 20, Clemson 17.
I went ND 23, Clemson 17.

What say you?

Looking at cfbstats.com, Clemson’s 7 missed FGs match several other teams for most in nation. (You have to count em up cause they don’t keep misses as a separate line item.) Meanwhile ND’s opponents have missed a most-in-nation 9 attempts. Guess it makes sense that Notre Dame is favored by 3.

What do you think?

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Notre Dame's 2025 recruiting class is currently made up of seven current commits. None of those seven are at the linebacker position although the Irish have hosted several linebacker targets on game-day visits this season including Christian Jones, Marco Jones, Brett Clatterbaugh and Anthony Sacca.

On Saturday for its game against Pittsburgh, Notre Dame invited 2025 linebacker prospect Mickey Vaccarello, a recruit out of Pittsburgh (Pa.) Peters Township, to campus.

Vaccarello, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound linebacker, has four offers from Boston College, Duquense, Maryland and Syracuse. He's also receiving interest from Wisconsin.

Inside ND Sports spoke with Vaccarello to discuss his trip, biggest takeaways, time with the coaching staff and more.

On his experience:

"The visit went great," Vaccarello said. "I loved the campus and environment there. My favorite part was the win of course."

On the linebacker's performance:

"I liked how fast they were playing. You can tell they are bought in on the scheme. The linebackers were disciplined but also had the freedom to make big plays."

On what he thought about the coaching and recruiting staff:

"The hospitality from them was outstanding. They made it seem like they really wanted you there, just like [director of recruiting] Mr. [Chad] Bowden, [recruiting associate] Mr. [Caleb] Davis and [defensive coordinator] Coach [Al] Golden did too.

On a potential offer:

"I’m very interested in building a great relationship with Notre Dame. It’s always been a school I’ve loved. An offer from there would be amazing ... my family loves it there too."

Link to full story:


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Also items on Eli Raridon's and Jayden Thomas' ongoing recovery processes, Devyn Ford's unexpected contributions and Sam Hartman on creating a November to remember.

Currently 37 degrees at Clemson, but it's supposed to be 60 by kickoff.

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Bill O'Brien will probably be available soon with Josh McDaniels being fired. Do we take him?

Since the Miami game was moved from 2024 to 2026 at home, does that mean we would expect the replacement game to come from the ACC partners?

If so, as the ACC released conference schedules for 2024, it appears the only ACC needing a 12th game is Boston College:


Not sure if we should expect BC to fill that spot?

At 7 a.m. ET, yes 7 a.m., it's Tim Grauel and Jim Irizarry with on Gameday with Jim & Tim. Their guests include:

Former Notre Dame record breaking quarterback, Jimmy Clausen
1968 Consensus All American & Pittsburg Steeler QB, Terry Hanratty
Notre Dame’s all-time career reception leader, Michael Floyd
Joe Montana’s favorite target, ND/NFL receiver, Kris Haines
Former Fighting Irish and Pittsburg Steeler running back, Rocky Bleier

Then, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET, Darin Pritchett, Tyler Horka and I break down Notre Dame-Clemson. All can be heard live streaming at wsbtradio.com, on the free WSBTRadio app or locally at AM 960.

Freeman's Record: 16-7
Weis' Record: 19-4

Then Weis degraded the team, which BK had to rebuild for during his first two years before getting us to the national championship.

We're now regressing back to the Weis days and probably will have a 3-9 type of season like Weis did next year.

Get ready for a painful and disappointing three years.

Notre Dame suffers big blow with Mitchell Evans out for the season. Evans is Notre Dame's leader in receptions and receiving yards.

Xavier Watts leads the nation in interceptions even though most have been rather easy catches. That's a product of film study and knowing what the offense is trying to do.

“There's a big difference there, because guys can chase plays or chase stats or do this," Al Golden said. "He's playing within the framework of the defense, and when there is an opportunity, he's converting on it.”

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One of the more noteworthy Notre Dame 2026 defensive prospects on campus last Saturday for the Pittsburgh game was linebacker Colsen Gatten.

Gatten is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound outside linebacker out of Pittsburgh (Pa.) Central Catholic. He has three offers from Penn State, Pittsburgh and Wisconsin.

He also visited Notre Dame in April. He took in his first game-day visit in South Bend last weekend and detailed his trip with Inside ND Sports.

On why this visit was special:

“I loved everything about the visit,” Gatten said. “The thing that stood out most was the individual time [Head] Coach [Marcus] Freeman and [defensive coordinator] coach [Al] Golden gave to me while speaking to myself and parents. That was cool … especially on game day.”

On his experience with the recruiting staff:

“The recruiting coordinators were awesome. We got to speak a bunch during the whole day. It was very special. It was a very personalized trip for a busy game day. I was impressed.”

On his impression of the defense:

“The defense dominated. Getting the turnovers were huge. The most impressive [thing] was how the linebackers were swarming to the football. They were flying to the football. I think a large part of my game is speed so I loved seeing that.”

Per Gatten, Golden told him he plans to be at Pittsburgh Central Catholic to see him again in January. Gatten said he will definitely visit Notre Dame in the spring.

Link to full story:


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Notre Dame hosted 2026 quarterback prospect Nathan Bernhard on a. visit last Saturday for the Pittsburgh game. Bernhard, a four-star per Rivals, is the No. 76 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class.

Bernhard attends Ashland (Ohio) High and reports five offers from Duke, Iowa State, Louisville, Michigan State and Penn State. He's also receiving interest from Ohio State.

Inside ND Sports spoke with the 6-foot-5, 210-pound signal caller this week to catch up on his visit, interaction with Notre Dame's coaching staff and more.

On his first Notre Dame game-day visit:

"I enjoyed the visit and while I was there, I spoke to [quarterbacks] coach Gino [Guidugli] who mentioned coming to watch me throw in January," Bernhard said.

More on the Irish:

"The atmosphere was amazing," Bernhard said. "It was a historic stadium and sell-out crowd. I have interest in building a relationship with Notre Dame ... it's one of the top programs year after year."

On what he's looking for early in his recruitment:

"I would say I make a lot of throws in the pocket but also have the ability to create plays with my legs and get chunks of yardage on the ground. I’m gonna look for an offense that incorporates some of those traits."

Link to full story:


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A look here:

@Eric Hansen and I make prop bets and predictions ahead of Saturday's road game for No. 15 Notre Dame (7-2) against Clemson (4-4) in South Carolina (12 p.m. EDT on ABC).

Inside ND Sports subscribers can submit their votes prop bet predictions all season long for a chance at a free year-long subscription. Voting for ND-Clemson is open here.

On this week's list:

• Over/Under 131.5 Clemson rushing yards
• Who will lead Notre Dame in receptions?
• Over/Under 250.5 ND QB Sam Hartman passing yards
• More sacks: Notre Dame or Clemson?
• Over/Under 1.5 Clemson turnovers

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