No. 3 Notre Dame looking to extend school-record double-digit win streak when it hosts Stanford

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — No. 3 Notre Dame has emerged as a model of consistency in this ever-changing college football world.

The storied program has won 15 straight games, all by double digits, putting the Fighting Irish (5-0) on the cusp of making history again.

Army set the Football Bowl Subdivision record for most consecutive double-digit wins with 21 from 1944-46. Miami is second at 17 from 2000 to 2001. Notre Dame can move within one of the Hurricanes when its hosts struggling Stanford on Saturday.

Defensive end Boubacar Traore thinks it's all about keeping it simple.

“We’ve been practicing at a very high level, and I feel like as long as we keep the same mindset every day — just coming into practice and looking to get better, looking to build confidence through our practice — it will allow us to keep playing the way we’re playing,” he said. “We’ve got to worry about right now.”

Notre Dame’s streak began with a seemingly mundane 56-30 rout of in-state rival Purdue on Sept. 20, 2025. Since then, the Irish have beaten all comers — Arkansas, Boise State, Southern California, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin and most recently North Carolina.

The 27-10 win in Week 3 over Michigan State broke the school record for consecutive double-digit victories (12) set by Knute Rockne's teams across the 1921 and 1922 seasons. And if Notre Dame extends the longest active streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision, it could tie Miami's mark next week at No. 8 Brigham Young.

Stanford (2-3), meanwhile, hopes to ditch its own streak — 13 consecutive road losses, which is tied for the longest active streak with Ball State. The Cardinal extended that streak with Saturday's 57-3 loss at Wake Forest — the program's most lopsided loss since 1954.

“If we could play our road games here at Stanford Stadium, that would help” first-year coach Terry Pritchard said this week. “That would be a start because then we wouldn’t have to change time zones. We wouldn’t have to get on a plane. There would be none of those things.”

Notre Dame’s 37-26 victory at rainy North Carolina on Saturday proved more challenging than many of the other victories in a streak which the Irish have outscored opponents by nearly 20 points a game. But that may be more to Notre Dame than just another rout.

Coach Marcus Freeman compared that 11-point victory to an 11-piont win over Ohio University when he played for Ohio State in 2008.

“Coach (Jim Tressel) would always say he wanted that,” Freeman said about tough games. “It’s so that at some point when you’re in a tough one-score game, that your guys have been there before. They understand that there’s no need to panic, right? We’ve been down, we’ve been in close ball games, and it’s going to come down to execution."

One of Stanford's problems has been making the arduous journey needed to play ACC football. The Cardinal routinely travel from the West Coast to the Eastern time zone.

Yet Pritchard believes Stanford is doing everything possible when dealing with five-hour flights.

“How do we, as kind of on the player side, how do we keep the focus on what’s important?” he said. “They, the players, don’t control the time zone change, or where we play, or the noise in the stadium, or the fans. How do we continue to harden them against the things that otherwise are outside of our control, and get them to play and focus in those situations where we have to?”

Freeman has a linebacker’s steely demeanor on the sidelines, but he admits to being anxious when quarterback C.J. Carr runs. Carr has 12 carries for 28 yards and three scores this season including one TD run last weekend.

Freeman went so far that at one point, he instructed Carr to slide instead of taking a shot to the ribs.

“I’m uncomfortable every time he takes off and runs, just because, it’s like no different than your own son,” Freeman said. “You don’t want to see him get hurt. You don’t want to see any players get hurt, but especially your quarterback. I’m not going to be able to slow him down.”

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Notre Dame safety Luke Talich (28) celebrates his interception with defensive lineman Armel Mukam (88) and other teammates during the first half of an NCAA college football game against North Carolina, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Notre Dame wide receiver Jordan Faison (6) pulls in a touchdown pass against North Carolina during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr, right, looks to pass against North Carolina behind the block of offensive lineman Sullivan Absher (75) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and the team recognize their fans at the end of an NCAA college football game against North Carolina, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

DURBAN, South Africa (AP) — Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada was officially out and world champion South Africa confirmed it was fielding two spinners against Australia in the first cricket test at Kingsmead on Friday.

Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer have been paired at a venue which has favored spin in recent years. They last played together in South Africa's last test last November, a 408-run win in Guwahati that clinched a first series win in India in 25 years.

Rabada was given as long as possible to recover from a hamstring injury. He has not played an official match since May in the Indian Premier League.

Captain Temba Bavuma would not say on Thursday whether his best seamer would be available for the last two tests.

“We did go the conservative route and give him a couple of extra days to get as close as he can be to 100% fitness,” Bavuma said. “As soon as he gets that green light we expect him to be within that starting lineup.”

In Rabada's absence, Anrich Nortje will play his first test since March 2023. He and Marco Jansen lead the pace attack with allrounder Wiaan Mulder the third seamer.

Nortje has limited his cricket diet to mainly Twenty20s in recent years but he said he's been training for a while with a red ball under the eye of national bowling coach Piet Botha to increase his workload.

“He's X-factor,” Bavuma said. “There's not many guys around who are bowling 150-plus (mph).”

South Africa will field nine of the XI that beat Australia when they last met in the World Test Championship final at Lord's in June last year. Australia lead the current WTC cycle. South Africa is second.

Australia captain Pat Cummins declined to say whether they will go with two spinners as well. Coach Andrew McDonald has said they would need a "compelling" reason to do so.

Australia looks set to play the same bowlers — Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon — from the infamous Sandpapergate scandal in 2018 when it last played a test in the republic. Cameron Bancroft was caught on TV applying sandpaper to the ball and he, captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner served long suspensions.

“As a group we've moved on,” Cummins said on Thursday. “(I am) very happy with the last eight or nine years, how we've been as a group and evolved.”

South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, David Bedingham, Temba Bavuma (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje.

See AP’s full cricket coverage here

South Africa's players watch an LBW appeal review on a big electronic screen during the third one day international cricket match between South Africa and Australia, in Potchefstroom, South Africa, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)