5 Things on My Mind Before Notre Dame Faces Miami

Notre Dame opens the 2025 season in just hours at Miami, and if you're like me, the next seven hours can't pass soon enough.

Led by Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame enters 2025 with what feels like its most realistic national championship expectations in at least 30 years. I find myself too excited to sit still, and thinking I'm getting a lot done this morning, but seeing the clock just crawl up until kickoff.

With that as the premise, here are five Notre Dame football-related items on my mind this Sunday, besides just the game.

5. Notre Dame Owns Labor Day Weekend Anymore

Thank goodness Notre Dame doesn't have a TV deal with Fox, and isn't stuck playing all its biggest games at noon on Saturday. As big as the Ohio State vs. Texas game was yesterday, the fact it wasn't even a late afternoon start just felt weird.

Notre Dame has had a primetime start on Labor Day weekend all but twice since 2018: The 2020 Duke game (Covid) and 2023, as the Irish schedule cupcake Tennessee State a week after traveling to Ireland to play Navy.

Labor Day weekend is the biggest weekend of the year for college football as there is no NFL to compete against, and Notre Dame does a ridiculously good job of being towards the very top of the list of interest seemingly each one.

4. LSU Beating Clemson Felt Familiar Last Night

Am I the only one who watched Brian Kelly and LSU beat Clemson last night and left thinking I just watched Notre Dame's 2024 opener at Texas A&M? It never felt like Clemson's offense was going to do enough to win, and LSU's defensive line dominated. Now is the rest of 2025 for LSU going to be like 2024 was to Notre Dame?

3. Future of College Football Pregame Shows

Lee Corso making his last pick on College GameDay yesterday felt like a goodbye of sorts, not just to the legend but to pregame shows in general. As the NFL-ication of college football continues, GameDay's picks segment used to stand out with Corso's shenanigans. As we say farewell to Coach, I feel like I'm saying goodbye to the shows as a whole.

2. Thank God the Notre Dame-Miami Rivalry was Off in the Early 2000s

Can you imagine what those Willis McGahee, Sean Taylor, Ed Reed, and *insert dozens of other megastars here* would have done to Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham's squads back in the day?

1. Better Feeling for Notre Dame: Pre-2024 Texas A&M or Pre-2025 Miami?

Pregame jitters are hitting, but overall I'm feeling good about tonight's game. Each time I look at it I come back to the same conclusion as I did before Texas A&M last year: Notre Dame is better in more matchups than Miami is. It shouldn't come down to CJ Carr against Carson Beck, and which makes the play. It should be decided everywhere else - and if it is, that'll likely mean good things for Marcus Freeman and company.