Slap The Sign

Earlier this week, both Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell and quarterback Colton Joseph jammed their feet in their mouths pretty impressively when discussing Leonard Moore. Just a few days later, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash had the perfect response. It summed up nicely what most Fighting Irish fans have thought since the pair decided Leonard Moore wasn’t someone they should avoid in their offensive game plan. "Well, they have a game plan. They have to execute it.

Anyone surprised that Adon Shuler will play in Notre Dame’s season opener just days after his father's death should look more closely at the relationship they had. Shuler, who was named one of four Fighting Irish captains earlier this week, knows that if he had skipped the game, his father would have been mad at him. “I was home for the last 48 hours with my family,” Shuler said. “But I have to get back here with my brothers.

During the Marcus Freeman era of Notre Dame football, one of the most interesting side effects of the coach's popularity is that more than a few former NFL players are comfortable trusting Freeman with their sons. Earlier this week, Mark Ingram II announced that when his son is old enough to hit college, he’ll be more than happy to steer him towards South Bend.

Wisconsin may not want the free advice it’s about to get, but it’s coming anyway. Stop trying to pretend that Leonard Moore isn’t the best corner in the sport just days ahead of your game with Notre Dame. It was bad enough on Monday when Luke Fickell announced that his team is going to go right at Moore. It was even worse when he then claimed that the defensive back could “prove” he’s the best around if Moore once again demonstrates that throwing at him was a bad idea.

USC played its home opener against San Jose State (who they dumped Notre Dame for) five days ago. Since that contest kicked off, the Trojans have gone out of their way to make sure the conversation around the program is about nothing that happened on the field and everything that happened in the stands.

Just days away from his season opener, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr has staked his claim to being the best quarterback in the game already. Yes, things could change quite a bit depending on how good Carr’s 2026 season goes. However, should he have the kind of performance that many expect him to have in his second year as a starter, the idea that he’s not as good as Texas’ Arch Manning needs to go away forever.

With the Notre Dame football season opener just five days away, it’s time to identify the players most likely to deliver breakout seasons. Who won’t Fighting Irish fans see on this list? Leonard Moore and CJ Carr, to name two. Both have already had breakout seasons. Even if they improve and have career seasons, that would qualify them at the end of the year for “best” season, but certainly not breakout. So which Notre Dame football players are the best breakout candidates?

While Notre Dame and Wisconsin have faced off plenty of times, no one would call them rivals. Likewise, while Marcus Freeman and Luke Fickell know each other quite well, they aren’t rival coaches either. Still, Sunday brings plenty of emotion and a strong desire to beat their counterparts. It’s hard to remember that, in fact, when Freeman and Fickell face off, it will be the student taking on the master. Freeman isn’t considered the master this time around.

While there have been some surprise announcements on the Notre Dame football team’s depth chart for its Week 1 showdown with Wisconsin, when it came to several important spots on the roster, the “ORs” had it. More specifically, there were several positions on the depth chart that Marcus Freeman and his staff have decided are still a toss-up going into Sunday’s game. Some of those essential ties were seen coming from a mile away.

Earlier this month, Armel Mukam's story was one of hope. Now that he’s starting for the Notre Dame football team against Wisconsin, it’s a story of redemption. Mukam worked hard trying to gain the trust of defensive line coach Charlie Partridge after first entering the Transfer Portal and then coming back to South Bend once Partridge was hired. Why did he come back?