SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — When No. 3 Notre Dame faces Rice in its home opener Saturday, the Fighting Irish won't just be facing the Owls.
They'll be trying to rewrite their early-season script.
Over the past five seasons, Notre Dame (1-0) has lost home games to Cincinnati, Marshall, Stanford, Ohio State, Northern Illinois and Texas A&M — four of those coming in September. Last year's 0-2 start, which included a 41-40 loss to the 16th-ranked Aggies, eventually kept Notre Dame out of the College Football Playoff.
And if the Irish are going to produce their first perfect home season since 2020 or win their first national championship since 1988, they must take care of business at Notre Dame Stadium first, starting this weekend against Rice (1-0). Coach Marcus Freeman has made it a point of emphasis.
“I know this has been a sense of urgency for me, especially last year and the previous years before that,” Freeman said of reasserting home-field dominance. “I do feel very confident in the enhancements we’ve made. But everything we do, we have to challenge everything. When you continue to just rinse and recycle and repeat, I think you’ll get passed by.”
Notre Dame (1-0) certainly understands the stakes.
Two years ago, it managed to rebound from an embarrassing 16-14 home loss to Northern Illinois to become the first school to host a playoff game. But finishing last season with 10 straight wins and being one of the hottest teams in the nation still wasn't good enough to make the 12-team playoff field.
Players have gotten the message, too.
“I would say we definitely keep the pain,” fourth-year linebacker Jaiden Ausberry said Wednesday. “You know, we don’t harp on it. We don’t talk about it every day. But you know, I feel like everybody has it in the back of our minds.”
This year could be different because the Irish would be guaranteed a playoff spot if they finish in the CFP selection committee's final top 12 ranking. But Freeman has consistently stressed the need to leave no doubt.
Getting there, though, could still be tricky. The Irish overcame a sloppy first half Sunday night to roll past Wisconsin 41-13 at Lambeau Field. Most teams improve dramatically from Week 1 to Week 2, but Freeman also recognizes that's not a given.
“When you said that, it made me think that in 2024 we didn't improve from Week 1 to Week 2,” Freeman said Tuesday in response to a question about improvement while making a subtle reference to the Northern Illinois loss. “It's a great reminder we have work to do, and there's a lot of areas for improvement we have to focus on.”
And that began immediately after Sunday's victory.
While CJ Carr went 19 of 29 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and Aneyas Williams rushed 15 times for 90 yards and two scores in his starting debut, most of Notre Dame's productivity came during a second half in which the Irish outscored the Badgers 28-3.
So the Irish are looking for a faster start and more consistent play through four quarters.
Defensively, the Irish will be without two starters — safety Brauntae Johnson, a second-team preseason All-American, and defensive tackle Jason Onye. Each injured his left foot against Wisconsin and have been ruled out for the Rice game.
And even though the Irish are back on their home turf, where they've gone 29-6 over the past five seasons and have an all-time winning percentage of .795, Freeman has spent the offseason looking for ways to help his team strengthen its home-field advantage.
“It’s a January through August issue, right?” Freeman said. “And it’s, how do you evaluate everything you’re doing from the minute the last game ends to the minute the first game begins. We’re not changing everything we’ve done, but we’re evaluating everything we’ve done, and we’re enhancing little things we’ve done.”
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Notre Dame fans celebrate scoring a touchdown with pushups during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Wisconsin Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay’s Jordan Love already has established himself as one of the game’s elite quarterbacks as far as Packers coach Matt LaFleur is concerned.
Love will certainly get a chance to prove that this season.
The unsettled nature of Green Bay’s rushing attack without three-time Pro Bowl running back Josh Jacobs means the Packers may have to depend on their passing game more than usual. The Packers open the season Sunday at Minnesota.
“No matter who’s out there, I want to be the best,” Love said. “I want to go out there and execute my job at a high level on every play. So, I think for everybody — the receivers, you don’t have to go out there and do anything fancy or try and do anything more. It’s just go out there and do your job and make plays.”
Love hasn’t yet received a Pro Bowl invitation despite leading the Packers to playoff berths in each of his three seasons as a starting quarterback. When he was asked about the next step Love must take to be considered among the league’s best quarterbacks, LaFleur contended that the 27-year-old already has entered that class.
“I get so confused by that question every time, because I think he’s an elite player,” LaFleur said Wednesday. “So I don’t know. I’ll let you guys figure that out, what the next step is.”
LaFleur believes Love might get more recognition if the Packers made a longer postseason run.
Green Bay hasn’t advanced beyond the divisional round of the playoffs in Love’s three seasons as a starter and has lost in the wild-card round each of the past two years.
“I think a lot of times it’s due to team success,” LaFleur said. “And the more success we have, the more people will view him in that light.”
Love wasn’t to blame for the Packers’ five-game skid that ended their 2025 season.
A helmet-to-helmet hit from Chicago’s Austin Booker knocked Love out of an overtime loss to the Bears on Dec. 20 and prevented him from playing in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens the next week. Green Bay rested Love and its other starters for its regular-season finale at Minnesota.
Love returned for the playoffs and threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, but the Packers fell 31-27 at Chicago after allowing 25 points in the fourth quarter.
Another issue that could impact the perception of Love is that the Packers generally don’t pass the ball as often as many other teams. According to Sportradar, only four teams ran the ball a higher percentage of time than the Packers did last season. The Packers had the third-highest rushing percentage in 2024.
Love tied for 14th in the league in touchdown passes (23) and ranked 13th in passing yards (3,381) and 19th in pass attempts (439) last season. He was intercepted only six times.
The Packers may need to lean on Love more this season, particularly as long as Jacobs is unable to play or practice because of his placement on the commissioner’s exempt list. Jacobs has a court appearance scheduled for Thursday as he faces misdemeanor charges of battery and criminal damage to property stemming from a May altercation with his girlfriend.
Love’s teammates believe he can handle that extra responsibility.
“Since I’ve been playing with him, he’s never flinched,” wide receiver Jayden Reed said. “That’s the biggest thing for him that I see. He’s the same guy out there every play, through adversity, through great plays. He just does a great job leading the offense, and he’s going to continue to do that.”
Love should benefit from the fact that three of his top playmakers finally are all healthy at the same time.
The Packers didn’t have the entire trio of Reed, Christian Watson and tight end Tucker Kraft all available for a single game last season. Watson made his season debut Oct. 26 after recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Kraft’s season ended when he tore his ACL on Nov. 2. Reed went on injured reserve Sept. 20 with shoulder and foot injuries, and he didn’t come back until Dec. 7.
They’re all good to go for the start of this season.
“I think you guys see what we can do all together,” Reed said. “That’s huge, to have all of us together, plus MG (Matthew Golden) plus all the other playmakers we have. I think we can be the best in the league, me personally. We’ve just got to put that all on display on Sunday.”
NOTES: DT Warren Brinson (calf) and LB Ty’Ron Hopper (Achilles) didn’t practice Tuesday. … RB Damon Bankston and S Kahlef Hailassie joined the practice squad. S Murvin Kenion III was released from the practice squad.
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Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love talks to Arizona Cardinals' Gardner Minshew II after a preseason NFL football game Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
