SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 11 Notre Dame entered the bye week hoping to make a playoff push. It returns to the field and is in control of its destiny in the play-offs.

The next step: beating Stanford.

Notre Dame will no longer face currently ranked teams, a similar situation to last season before everything spiraled out of control in a loss at Louisville. It was a tough lesson to learn, but it could put the Irish where they think they belong: in the expanded 12-team playoff field.

“I would say it made us more mature,” running back Jeremiyah Love said, referring to what they learned. “The fact that we didn’t get the outcome we wanted last year has certainly given a lot of people a pat on the back. Our goal for this year is to get a better result and, you know, reach a higher standard, trying to be better than last year.

The Fighting Irish (4-1) have rebounded well from the shocking loss to Northern Illinois in their home opener. They won three in a row before getting a break ahead of their annual matchup with struggling Stanford (2-3).

Love said that after that loss, he and his teammates never doubted their abilities or goals and instead simply focused on improving.

So far, so good.

But Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman is wary. Yes, Stanford has lost consecutive games, but they are a largely similar team to the one that scored four times in last season’s 56-23 win for the Irish. He is also wary of the problems caused by creative play coach Troy Taylor.

“I have a lot of respect for (Taylor) as an offensive player,” Freeman said. “If you look back at last year when we played them, they were a unique offense in terms of what they did. You will see that a lot of emphasis is placed on defense based on movements, shifts and formations. And they did some unique things in last year’s game, giving us extra wide splits.”

Taylor has his own concerns, starting with the challenges of Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, whose seven touchdowns rank second among all Power 4 quarterbacks.

And that’s not all. The Irish are averaging 214.0 yards rushing per game, largely behind the punch of Love and Leonard.

“They do a really good job of using him in the run game,” Taylor said. “He’s a good passer, he’s just a true dual-threat quarterback. He is very accurate as a passer and has some good weapons behind him.”

The bigger challenge for Stanford may be finding cracks in Notre Dame’s stingy defense.

The Irish have allowed just 12.6 points per game, ninth in the FBS, and Taylor’s concern is how ruthless and physical Notre Dame plays.

“They are where they need to be, and they make very few mistakes,” Taylor said. “They’re great tacklers, so they have really good speed.”

In the meantime, Notre Dame is guarding against something else: complacency.

“This year we’re really focusing on our preparation before the games, making sure we prepare the right way, making sure we’re focused, blocking out the noise and just locking in a lot more than last year. ”, said Love.

Rivalry respect

With Stanford moving to the ACC this season, it could be difficult to keep this rivalry on the schedule every season. Taylor hopes that won’t be the case.

“I think it’s a great rivalry,” he said. “Obviously you have two incredible institutions that I think have a lot in common and a lot of respect for each other. So hopefully it keeps going. Obviously television and contracts and conferences and all that stuff comes into play, but I know I would definitely like to continue playing Notre Dame.

Punishment explained

Notre Dame defensive end Jordan Clark addressed his skirmish with Louisville receiver Chris Bell, which resulted in a 15-yard penalty against Clark after he headbutted the Cardinal’s star.

“(Bell) punched me in the face and spit on me,” Clark said. “At the end of the day, I can’t cost my team 15 yards, no matter what happens. I will never allow anyone to spit on me. I never let anyone hit me. But 15 meters is unacceptable.”