It may be head coach Brian Kelly’s first year at the helm, but positive change is already tangible.

While the 2008 and 2009 Irish squads finished 1-8 in November, this year’s unit went 3-0. It isn’t time to anoint Kelly the next Lou Holtz or Ara Parseghian, but Notre Dame played its best football down the stretch without several critical players such as quarterback Dayne Crist, …

The Irish stopped the Trojans eight-game win streak in dramatic fashion Saturday night. Robert Hughes five-yard touchdown run with 2:23 remaining capped off a physical, run-heavy drive that gave head coach Brian Kelly his second three-game win streak of the season.

Looking back this could certainly be a season of what if’s. What if quarterback Dayne Crist hadn’t been injured in the Michigan game? What …

A home loss to a non-BCS conference opponent is always tough. But off the heels of a blowout defeat at the hands of the Midshipmen, it hurts even worse.

The 2010 Fighting Irish are beginning to look a lot like the previous two versions. Perhaps the most distinguishable characteristic of the past two teams has been late-season collapses. After opening the year relatively strong, the …

It was game of superlatives. Unfortunately, they weren’t generated by Notre Dame.

Navy posted the most rushing yards (367) in the 84-game series with the Irish. Backup fullback Alexander Teich ran for the most yards ever by a Midshipmen (210) against Notre Dame, and most ever by a Navy fullback in the program’s history. And the Irish defense allowed the highest third down conversion rate …

Each year, prior to the start of the season, every Notre Dame football fan, whether they admit or not, goes through the schedule to evaluate what kind of final record we can expect for the year. We do it by ourselves, we talk about it with our friends, on message boards, and participate in polls. Even here at Clashmore Mike, we did it.

“Purdue? Win. …

The game against Western Michigan provided the perfect opportunity for first-year head coach Brian Kelly’s squad to show something lacking in recent Irish teams—a killer instinct. Unfortunately, it didn’t surface , at least not in the first two quarters of play.

The Broncos shrugged off an 80-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Dayne Crist to wide receiver Michael Floyd on the first snap of the game …

Notre Dame notched its second-straight victory over their Catholic archrival, but it wasn’t exactly pretty.

The Irish started fast with three first quarter touchdowns before the offense was beset by inconsistency, scoring a touchdown on only one of the final 13 drives after posting three in the first four. In many ways, Notre Dame was lucky this contest wasn’t closer. Had the defense not been …

Notre Dame returns home to host 16th-ranked Stanford Saturday. The Irish enter the contest on the heels of two close, last-minute losses and in desperate need of a win. Fortunately, recent history is on their side—since 1997 Notre Dame has won nine of the last 13 (0.692) in the series, including six straight at home. Unfortunately, this isn’t your typical Cardinal squad.

Stanford enters the …

Another week, another close, tough loss for the Irish. Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio improved to 3-1 against Notre Dame, and the Spartans have won 10 of the last 14 in the series. If it feels like these close, late-game losses are a trend, it’s because they are.

Since opening the 2008 season Notre Dame has played 28 games. The average margin of victory/defeat …

As I slowly recovered from the initial shock of the final play of Notre Dame’s game against Michigan State, something felt eerily familiar—almost like déjà vu. And as I continued to reflect, I realized that I had experienced it before. Notre Dame’s recent loss seems like a link in a chain of disappointments that have had Irish fans reeling since 1988, the last time the Irish …