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Key storylines: Notre Dame at Stanford

Notre Dame didn’t find itself in the playoff mix Tuesday night when the new CFP rankings was released and it checked in at No. 6.

But the Fighting Irish did appear to get a bowl upgrade and clearer rout into the four-team field if it wins Saturday at Stanford (3-8).

With Cincinnati (11-0) moving up to fourth this week and finally into one of the playoff semifinal spots, the No. 4 Bearcats all but locked up a berth with wins in their final two games, meaning Notre Dame (10-1) is now in line for an invite to the Fiesta Bowl — likely against a team from the Big 12 group of No. 7 Oklahoma State (10-1), No. 8 Baylor (9-2) and No. 10 Oklahoma (10-1) — at least for the moment.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football head coach Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly and Notre Dame were No. 6 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. (Chad Weaver)
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Playoff hopes get a boost

A spot in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2022, is a nice reward for a memorable season, but all eyes remain on Notre Dame’s push for a third playoff appearance in the last four years.

Obviously, the Irish need to take care of their own business Saturday as a 20-point favorite at Stanford.

Beyond that, a lot still has to happen, and none of it’s within their control.

The clearest path for Notre Dame to land in the four-team field is for No. 4 Cincinnati to lose one its final two games — East Carolina (7-4) or No. 24 Houston (10-1) — and the Big 12 elites to cannibalize each other down the stretch so that the conference ends up with a two-loss champion.

Add a victory by No. 2 Ohio State (10-1) this weekend over No. 5 Michigan (10-1) to the above mix, and Notre Dame will be in.

Some combination of No. 14 Wisconsin (8-3) winning out to claim the Big Ten title and/or No. 3 Alabama (10-1) losing convincingly to No. 1 Georgia (11-0) in the SEC Championship Game would also help Notre Dame’s cause.

It’s a lot to sort through, indeed, but worth mentioning because none of these scenarios are overly far-fetched.

Irish head coach Brian Kelly began making his case for playoff inclusion on Monday.

“Consistency and growth as a football team, playing well at the end of the season, the balance of both offense and defense,” Kelly said when asked to tout his team. “Shutouts at the end of the season, playing well. That should mean a lot in terms of the overall record.”

Focus on the freshman

In an effort to measure whether 2021 truly brought a youth movement, or if that just became a popular narrative, we went back to 2017 when the program resurgence took hold and evaluated the freshman contributions in the five seasons from then to now, and indeed, 2021 stands above the other four.

Here are some of the freshman highlights.

• 2017: Linebacker Jordan Genmark-Heath recorded 16 tackles; and offensive lineman Robert Hainsey earned a valuable rotational role and made four starts.

• 2018: Cornerback Tariq Bracy tallied 18 tackles and forced a fumble; defensive back Houston Griffith made 14 tackles with two passes broken up; and wide receiver Kevin Austin had five catches for 90 yards.

• 2019: Punter Jay Bramblett averaged 39.4 yards per kick; defensive lineman Jacob Lacey recorded 14 tackles; and Freshman All-American safety Kyle Hamilton tallied 41 tackles, four interceptions and a touchdown return.

• 2020: Cornerback Clarence Lewis started and made 33 tackles with seven passes broken up; running back Chris Tyree scored four touchdowns and was second on the Irish with 498 rushing yards; and Freshman All-American tight end Michael Mayer caught 42 balls for 450 yards and two scores.

• 2021: Entering the game against Stanford, quarterback Tyler Buchner is second on the Irish with 280 rushing yards and he has another 302 yards with three touchdowns through the air; running back Logan Diggs was third on the Irish with 203 rushing yards and scored four total touchdowns; offensive tackle Joe Alt was starting, and excelling, on the left side; and wide receiver Lorenzo Styles, had 12 catches for 181 yards.

“We’re playing young players that are now much more mature, playing better,” Kelly explained of the growing depth and his expanding player rotation. “We’re ascending as a football team.”

And as a football program.

Two coaches, two directions

Stanford head coach David Shaw has fallen on hard times during his 11th year coaching the Cardinal.

After leading his program to eight straight bowl games and three straight top-10 finishes in the final Associated Press poll from 2011-18, Shaw is now 11-18 over the last three seasons and has lost six straight games since beating No. 3 Oregon Oct. 2.

From 2009-2018, Stanford recorded at least eight victories in each of those 10 years, but now, it hasn’t finished a season in the top 25 since 2017.

For Notre Dame, it has won 41 consecutive games against unranked opponents and nine straight true road games.

Kelly has beaten Shaw twice in row, though Shaw has won five of his nine meetings against Kelly.

After losing four straight regular-season finales from 2013-16, Notre Dame has won its previous four Thanksgiving weekend games.

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