SOUTH BEND, INDIANA – NOVEMBER 07: Head coach Marcus Freeman of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates with Leonard Moore #15 against the Miami Hurricanes during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on November 07, 2026 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) | Getty Images Folks, what I just experienced in South Bend was, hands down, the best football memory in my life. Standing next to my dad in the stadium as the clock ran out, soaking in the culmination of a father-and-son trip a year of vengeful anticipation in the making, I knew it then and I know it now – I might never top that experience in the rest of my life following this sport, and that’s okay because I could never ask to. Doing the whole trip in less than 48 combined hours on very little sleep mattered not a whit – as I reflected, extraordinarily tired and staring down the crash back down to Monday, I was drawn back to one of the most iconic scenes in television history:Voice? Gone. Memories? Made. Was it worth it? View LinkLet’s get into three things that made this possible.The Prince of South BendI try to look past the efforts of Notre Dame’s biggest names in these pieces, mostly because fans already know all about them and I can’t really add to what has already been said. For that reason there weren’t many entries last year for Jeremiyah Love, and there haven’t been many this year for CJ Carr. But there is no way to account for Notre Dame’s victory against Miami without highlighting CJ. After a year of doubts and with fans wondering given his mixed record in big games, the Irish triggerman had the best game of his career in the biggest one of them all.Name a way you would expect a quarterback to excel in a game and Carr did it. He was accurate on both downfield balls (the perfection on both the pass and catch of his first touchdown to Jordan Faison should land it in a museum) and in the short-to-intermediate game. He distributed the ball more evenly and efficiently across a deep stable of targets, while putting his lead receivers in Micah Gilbert and Jordan Faison in position to look like bonafide stars. He was markedly improved against pressure, most notably on a circus scramble that allowed him to find Aneyas Williams for a first down early in Notre Dame’s last drive of the first half, which ended in a touchdown but might have been strangled in its crib but for his athleticism and awareness.It’s shaping up to be a year where the Heisman voters just decide to give the award to the most famous player on one of the best teams, and if Carr – who hadn’t had a remotely Heisman-worthy season until Saturday night – gets that treatment it will be because of this night. If nothing else he has written himself into Notre Dame royalty, which I have to imagine ol’ Lloyd is smiling at.A Persistent Pass RushNotre Dame’s defense did a lot of things well Saturday night (there were also problems but the W in the column precludes me from dis
