Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Week 4 Preview
By Stiofán Mac Fhilib
After opening the season with three home games, Notre Dame have their first true road game this Saturday, albeit without having to leave the state of Indiana. The Purdue Boilermakers will want to improve upon their last two outings against the #3 Irish, who will be searching for their fourth straight win in 2026.
Looking Back at Last Week
The first clash for The Megaphone Trophy in nine years saw Notre Dame retain one of the more unusually shaped prizes in college football with a 27-10 victory over Michigan State. The 29.5-point underdog Spartans played with the trademark toughness of any Pat Fitzgerald team, but not for the first time this season, the talent gap in ND’s favour proved too much by the fourth quarter.
The first quarter saw the Irish take the lead with a chip shot FG, before a partially blocked Spartans punt led to a short field that Notre Dame converted into seven points. An athletic leap deep in the Irish secondary by S, Luke Talich, gave ND their first interception of the day, and when that drive stalled, Marcus Freeman surprised the Spartans, and pretty much every watching Irish fan, by calling a fake punt on Notre Dame’s own 39-yard line.
Freshman Brayden Robinson found himself with the ball running to the left with just one defender to beat for the first down. But while his teammate was blocking the defender to the inside, leaving a huge gap to the outside, Robinson instead chose poorly and was tackled two yards short of the line to gain.
A better choice would have seen him with just the Punt Returner to beat for a TD that would have put the Irish 17-0 ahead before the end of the first quarter. Instead, Michigan State converted their own short field into a 32-yard FG. Fine margins indeed.
A short Aneyas Williams TD run extended Notre Dame’s lead, but the Spartans needed only three plays to go 68 yards and reduce the deficit to 17-10. With MSU getting the ball first in the second half, ND needed a big opening drive from its defense, and they delivered. Throughout the second half. The Spartans tallied 40 yards on 22 plays after the interval, punting three times and throwing another pick.
A third-quarter FG and a short CJ Carr run in the fourth finished Notre Dame’s scoring on an evening where they seemed able to pass at will but chose to run on 43 of 67 offensive plays. The run game was steady, though still lacking explosive plays – the Irish and Arkansas are the only non-G6 teams without a 20+ yard run so far this season.
However, this game did see Nolan James Jr. lay down a clear marker in his challenge for the RB1 position. 121 yards on 26 carries, including a TD, was the best performance by a Notre Dame RB so far in 2026, and he will doubtless be keen to continue that form against a much weaker Purdue run defense this week.
The Week Ahead
Purdue Boilermakers (Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN); 2.00pm EST; 7.00pm IST/BST
Saturday afternoon sees the second rivalry game in a row against a Big Ten opponent, and part of a run of three trophies at stake in four weeks (the Irish face Stanford in a fortnight). Notre Dame first took on Purdue in 1896 and met annually between 1946 and 2014. The Irish lead the series 61-26-2 and have won the last ten straight, including by margins of 66-7 and 56-30 in the last two seasons.
It is almost 20 years since the Boilermakers came out on top (33-19 at home in a 2007 season where ND went 3-9), and current form is not in their favour this year either. They have gone 1-11 and 2-10 in the last two seasons, and after beating FCS opposition in week 1, they gave up 38 and 52 points in losses to Wake Forest and UCLA.
The one positive for Barry Odom’s team is that they are averaging 40 ppg in 2026, primarily on the back of major improvement by QB Ryan Browne. He has thrown for over 1,000 yards already this season, with a 73% completion rate and a 7-1 TD-INT ratio. He can also be a bit of a threat with his legs when scrambling, against defenses unable to maintain contain.
His OL will face its biggest challenge of the season to date, against an Irish front seven that has allowed an average of just 58 yards per game on the ground. In the face of multiple obvious passing situations, Browne’s resilience will be tested by the ND pass rush.
Defensively, however, it’s much more difficult reading for Boilermaker fans. Notre Dame have struggled with explosive run plays in 2026, though not through the air. Saturday should offer them the opportunity to rectify the former, as Purdue have given up 15 double-digit yard runs in the last two games.
They have some decent pass rushers but unfortunately very little else going for them. The Irish have yet to fumble in 2026, and CJ Carr hasn’t had a single turnover-worthy play so far.
On special teams, they at least have a consistent kicker, from inside 40 yards at any rate. He may be their best hope of troubling the scoreboard on Saturday.
Game Prediction
NOTRE DAME 52-13 PURDUE
Taylor Swift announced the release of her latest album this week. Purdue are 0-11 so far in the game after such a release by her. And frankly, given their 2026 defense they likely have but two hopes of success. And Slim just rode outta town on a horse. The Irish won’t match the 66 points they logged two seasons ago, but the game will be another opportunity to give the ND backups a second-half runout.
Where to Watch
DAZN; coverage starts at 7.00pm IST/BST
Peacock (in the USA)
Playoff Picture
Last week saw Louisville put down a marker in the ACC with their defeat of SMU, while Texas A&M and LSU saw their conference title and playoff hopes take early knocks.
After the famine of the first three weeks, fans now have a veritable feast of ranked matchups in week 4, mostly in the SEC. A&M travel to LSU, and the loser there will face a huge uphill battle back to playoff contention. Meanwhile, in the LA Coliseum, Oregon face a similar fate should they lose to their hosts. The bad news for USC fans, however, is that Oregon benefits from a ‘reverse Purdue’: the Ducks have never lost in the game after a Taylor Swift album release!
STIOFÁN MAC FHILIB
COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANALYST
A VERY LONG-DISTANCE SUBWAY ALUMNUS OF NOTRE DAME, COUNTY ANTRIM-BASED STIOFÁN HAS BEEN A FAN OF THE FIGHTING IRISH SINCE 2000. FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @SMACFHILIB.
