The Irish and Mustangs haven't lined up against each other since 1989. This time both sides are ranked, both have real playoff hopes, and it's the last home game of Notre Dame's regular season.
Bush’s Picks
SMUND
SMUND
OverUnder
Best BetNotre Dame
Notre Dame enters preseason as a top-5 team with a healthier, more established quarterback situation and the extra juice of a Senior Day atmosphere. SMU has real weapons and a proven starter in Jennings, but asking the Mustangs to go into South Bend for the first time in program history and beat a playoff-motivated Irish team is a tall order. Backing Notre Dame here is the straightforward, if pricier, read.
+CJ Carr's 24-to-6 TD-INT ratio as first-year starter
+Added DT size in transfers Brewu and Gray
−Lost both leading backs in Love and Price
−Placekicking has been unstable two seasons running
−Motivated to erase last year's CFP snub, added pressure
Marcus Freeman's team enters the year with a chip on its shoulder after getting left out of the College Football Playoff, and CJ Carr is the guy tasked with fixing it. Carr threw for 2,741 yards with a 24-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his first year as the starter, and Notre Dame opened preseason camp ranked No. 4 in ESPN's poll. On the other side, Kevin Jennings is back for a third year under center at SMU after nearly getting the Mustangs to the ACC title in 2024.
Notre Dame's offseason wasn't just about Carr getting more comfortable. The Irish lost both of last year's top backs, Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, which leaves a real question mark in the backfield heading into the fall. Up front on defense, Notre Dame went shopping in the portal for size, landing Pitt transfer Francis Brewu and Oregon's Tionne Gray to pair with returners Jason Onye and Elijah Hughes. Placekicking has been an adventure the last two seasons, so don't be shocked if that's still a storyline when November rolls around.
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SMU SMU
ND Notre Dame
SMU didn't sit on its hands either. Jennings gets a fresh set of targets in ECU transfer Yannick Smith and a Holiday Bowl MVP in Yamir Knight, plus a new lead back in Cal transfer Kendrick Raphael, who finished third in the ACC in rushing touchdowns last season. The Mustangs cracked the AP preseason poll for the first time since 1985, and while Miami still gets the nod as the ACC favorite, SMU is squarely in the next tier of contenders with the quarterback and depth to make a run.
This isn't some manufactured rivalry game, either. Notre Dame holds a 10-3 all-time edge in the series, but the two programs haven't met since a 59-6 Irish blowout in South Bend back in 1989. It's SMU's first trip to Notre Dame Stadium since joining the ACC, and it lands on Senior Day for the Irish, which should make for one of the louder atmospheres of the season.
SMU Mustangs
Nov 13?vs Wake Forest—
Nov 6?vs Virginia Tech—
Oct 30?@ Syracuse—
Oct 16?vs Virginia—
Oct 2?vs Boston College—
Sep 25?vs Missouri State—
Sep 19?@ Louisville—
Sep 12?vs UC Davis—
Sep 7?@ Florida State—
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Nov 14?vs Boston College—
Nov 7?vs Miami—
Oct 31?@ Navy—
Oct 16?@ BYU—
Oct 10?vs Stanford—
Oct 2?@ North Carolina—
Sep 25?@ Purdue—
Sep 19?vs Michigan State—
Sep 12?vs Rice—
Sep 6?vs Wisconsin—
Recent form.
Both teams are built to win with their quarterbacks, which is why this one's being circled as a potential playoff-seeding swing game depending on how the fall shakes out. Jennings wasn't fully healthy for stretches of last season and still took a step forward, so a clean bill of health matters for SMU's ceiling. For Notre Dame, the backfield turnover and kicking situation are the two things standing between a talented roster and the 'leave no doubt' standard Freeman has set for the group.
