NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Winning 16-14 over a three-victory Boston College team isn't ideal.

But it sure beats the alternative.

Losers of 8-out-of-9 in November in 2008-09, the Irish (8-3) squeezed out a victory over Boston College (3-8), a rival that would have found a way to win a game like this in the past and shattered the final appearance by the seniors in Notre Dame Stadium.

"A great win for us. That's a pretty happy locker room in there," said Irish head coach Brian Kelly, who improved his personal mark of November victories to 14 in a row, including a 6-0 mark with the Irish.

"The kids persevered and played hard for four quarters. We asked them to play hard for four quarters and they did that tonight. It's just satisfying to win as a football coach and to see your team battle. We've overcome a lot of things."

Like awful field position for the entire night.

Like a sputtering offense that had to resort to a one-page, loose-leaf playbook in the second half.

Like what appears to be a season-ending knee injury to running back Jonas Gray.

Like a series of illnesses among key players, not unlike the Notre Dame men's basketball team is experiencing.

"Winning is hard, and I don't think people give guys enough credit when games are won late in the season," said Irish quarterback Tommy Rees, whose numbers (24-of-39 for 256 yards, one interception and no touchdowns) don't begin to tell the tale of what a struggle it was for him and the offense most of the night.

After jumping to a 10-0 lead 6:45 into the game, the Irish managed just two more David Ruffer field goals (three total) over the final 51:45. Meanwhile, the Irish defense stepped to the fore, limiting the Eagles to 250 yards total offense and 3-of-13 on third down.

"The defense played very, very stout today," Kelly said. "We had Harrison Smith in the infirmary last night getting IVs. We had Zack Martin out. Stephon Tuitt couldn't play because of an illness. R.J. Blanton didn't practice for two days because of illness, and I didn't give you all the injuries.

"My point is this: those kids stepped up in November and with a lot of guys out, found a way to win."

Gray, who was in pursuit of a 1,000-yard season to join Cierre Wood (1,001), suffered a serious right knee injury early in the third quarter, joining the walking wounded that already included Kapron Lewis-Moore, Braxston Cave, Steve Filer and Theo Riddick.

For the sixth time in the last seven games, Notre Dame scored on its opening drive of the game. Gray's 11-yard run got the Irish moving, and a 12-yard completion to Gray on a crossing route on 3rd-and-5 moved the chains. Three plays later, Gray scored from 26 yards out, marking the eighth straight game the Irish senior has tallied a touchdown.

Notre Dame made it 10-0 on its ensuing drive with the key play coming on 2nd-and-10 from the Irish 43. Tyler Eifert made a lunging, one-handed grab for a 37-yard gain to the Boston College 20. The drive bogged down, and David Ruffer came on to boot a 40-yard field goal.

As expected, the Irish kept the Boston College rushing attack under wraps. But with Notre Dame bottled up deep in its own territory on three straight possessions, the Eagles finally broke through with a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that included their first two third-down conversions of the game. Running quarterback Josh Bordner capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to pull Boston College to within three.

Ruffer converted his seventh field goal in a row when he booted a 41-yarder with 1:19 left in the first half to make it a 13-7 game at the intermission, and that's where it stood throughout the third quarter and about halfway through the fourth quarter before Ruffer nailed his third field goal of the day with 8:08 remaining. That gave the Irish a 16-7 lead - a two-score advantage - which seemed insurmountable considering the nature of the game.

After holding Rettig without a completion on 10 straight throws, the sophomore eventually mounted a seven-play, 72-yard touchdown drive that culminated with a bullet to Bobby Swigert in the end zone with 1:57 remaining.

Notre Dame's Robby Toma recovered the onside kick, and the Irish ran the clock down to eight seconds, which allowed for just one, futile Boston College play to end the game.

"We needed a couple of heroes, we needed somebody to step up and make some plays," said Boston College head coach Frank Spaziani. "That's the difference when you're playing a good football team like that one. They have firepower and they are well coached, so you've got to make plays. We had our chances."

Boston College's best chances came in the third quarter - trailing just 13-7 - when defensive end Max Holloway intercepted a Tommy Rees pass at the Irish 48. But Notre Dame's defense forced a punt after three plays.

A short punt allowed the Eagles to start at the Irish 49 on the next series, and once again, it was three-and-out. By the time Boston College scored its second touchdown of the night, it was too little too late for the Eagles.

"Winning is hard in college football," Kelly said. "We started the season 0-2 and have won eight out of nine games. You watch across the landscape, there is one team undefeated, maybe two. It's hard to win.

"You've got to win some of these games. I've been in a lot of them over 20 years, and to win a lot of games, you've got to take a couple of these, and we're excited about it."

Added Harrison Smith: "You're not going to win every game by a lot, no matter what team you are. There are going to be games that you have to grind out and win, and that showed the maturity of this team."

Cierre Wood's 94 yards rushing pushed him past the coveted four-figure mark. Gray finished with 61 yards on the ground while Michael Floyd snagged 10 passes for 92 yards.

Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly led all tacklers with 14 stops while Notre Dame's Manti Te'o finished with 12.