No. 11 Notre Dame returns from the bye and looks to stay on the playoff track against Stanford

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 11 Notre Dame entered the bye week with hopes of making a playoff push. It returns to the field in control of its playoff fate.

The next step: beat Stanford.

Notre Dame will not face any other teams currently ranked, a situation similar to last season before it all ended in a loss at Louisville. It was a difficult lesson, but it could get the Irish where they believe they belong – in the expanded 12-team playoff field.

“I would say it made us more mature,” running back Jeremiyah Love said, referring to what they learned. “The fact that we didn’t get the result we wanted last year definitely gave us a lot of people on the back. Our aim for this year is to achieve a better result and, as you know, to reach a higher standard and be better than last year.”

The Fighting Irish (4-1) have rebounded well from a shocking loss to Northern Illinois in their home opener. They won three straight before taking a break before their annual clash with struggling Stanford (2-3).

Love said he and his teammates never doubted their abilities or goals after that loss and instead simply focused on improving.

So far, so good.

But Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman is cautious. Yes, Stanford has lost two games in a row, but it's a largely similar team to the one that forced four turnovers in the Irish's 56-23 win last season. He is also concerned about the problems caused by creative playing coach Troy Taylor.

“I have a lot of respect for (Taylor) as an offensive player,” Freeman said. “If you look back at last year when we played them, they were a unique offense in terms of their performance. You will notice that a defense will be put under a lot of stress due to movements, shifts and formations. And they did some unique things in last year’s game by allowing us to make particularly long splits.”

Taylor has his own concerns, starting with the challenges posed by Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, whose seven touchdowns rank second among all Power 4 quarterbacks.

And that's not all. The Irish are averaging 214.0 yards per game, well behind Love and Leonard.

“They do a really good job of using him in the run game,” Taylor said. “He’s a good passer, he’s just a real dual-threat quarterback. He’s a very accurate passer and has some good weapons behind him.”

The bigger challenge for Stanford may be finding cracks in Notre Dame's stingy defense.

The Irish allowed just 12.6 points per game, ranking ninth in the FBS, and Taylor is concerned about how relentless and physical Notre Dame is playing.

“They're where they're supposed to be and they make very few mistakes,” Taylor said. “They’re great tacklers, so they have really good speed.”

Notre Dame, meanwhile, is wary of something else – complacency.

“This year we're really focusing a lot on our preparation before the games, making sure we prepare properly, making sure we're focused, tuning out the noise and just putting in a lot more effort than we did last year,” said Love.

Rivalry, respect

With Stanford moving to the ACC this season, it could prove difficult to keep this rivalry on the schedule every season. Taylor hopes that won't be the case.

“I think it’s a great rivalry,” he said. “Obviously you have two incredible institutions that I think have a lot in common and a lot of respect for each other. So, hopefully it continues. Obviously TV, contracts, conferences and all those things play a role, but I know I would definitely like to continue playing Notre Dame.”

Punishment explained

Notre Dame defensive back Jordan Clark talked about his skirmish with Louisville receiver Chris Bell, which resulted in a 15-yard penalty against Clark after he hit the Cardinals' star with his head.

“(Bell) punched me in the face and spit on me,” Clark said. “At the end of the day, I can’t cost my team 15 yards no matter what. I will never let anyone spit on me. I will never let anyone beat me. But 15 yards is unacceptable.”