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Notre Dame-Stanford Countdown: 10 To 1

10 Victories Notre Dame is attempting to reach three consecutive seasons (10-3 in 2017 and 12-1 in 2018) for the first time since 1991 (10-3), 1992 (10-1-1) and 1993 (11-1).

The Fighting Irish, who didn’t go permanently to 12-game regular seasons until 2006, have finished a regular season 10-2 three other times: 2002, 2006 and 2015, and were 12-0 in 2012 and 2018.

Notre Dame will attempt to break a five-game losing streak at Stanford Stadium.
Notre Dame will attempt to break a five-game losing streak at Stanford Stadium. (Andris Visockis)
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9 Straight wins in the month of November if the Irish defeat the Cardinal. Notre Dame went 4-0 last November and could finish 5-0 this season, with its last such defeat coming at Stanford in the 2017 regular season finale (38-20).

A nine-game winning streak in November/December regular season games would be the longest by the program since winning nine in a row from 1953-55.


8 Senior Notre Dame wideout Chase Claypool is tied with former 2009-12 and first-round tight end pick Tyler Eifert for eighth place on the all-time time Notre Dame receptions list with 140. He has been virtually unstoppable this month with 27 catches for 392 yards and five touchdowns.

Five catches today would move him past another first-round pick, Will Fuller (2013-15), on the all-time chart, although Fuller played only three seasons.


7 Teams out of 130 in the Football Bowl Subdivision ranked behind Stanford’s anemic 104.4 yards rushing per game.

That No. 123 national ranking is particularly stunning given that the Cardinal had built its identity the past decade on physicality in which it stops the run defensively and has featured three running backs who were Heisman Trophy runners-up: Toby Gerhart, Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love. Plus, Tyler Gaffney rushed for 189 yards in Stanford’s 27-20 victory versus the Irish in 2013.


6 Notre Dame is attempting to avoid a sixth straight loss in Stanford Stadium, where it has lost five straight dating back to 2009. The only two venues where the Irish have lost more games in a row were seven at USC from 1970-82 and also seven at Michigan State from 1951-63.


5 Notre Dame is seeking to finish 5-0 in the month of November for the first time since 1930, head coach Knute Rockne’s final season that resulted in a second straight national title.


4 Consecutive games senior quarterback Ian Book has led Notre Dame in rushing, which is believed to be a first in school history by any quarterback. During that stretch this month he’s totaled 286 yards rushing on 42 carries — 6.8 yards per carry.

He ran for only one touchdown during that span, a seven-yard scamper versus Virginia Tech with 29 seconds left to help provide the winning margin in the 21-20 victory on Nov. 2.


3 The Fighting Irish defense is tied for third nationally in turnovers forced with 24, behind only Illinois (27) and Alabama (25). The most generated in head coach Brian Kelly’s first nine seasons from 2010-18 was 25 in his first season.

Meanwhile, Stanford has produced only half that total with 12 (four interceptions, eight fumbles) to rank tied for 112th in the country.

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2 Teams in college football since 2017 who have not lost to an unranked team: Notre Dame and Alabama. The Irish have won 22 straight such contests, the second longest such streak in school history, behind the 29 from 1990-94 under former head coach Lou Holtz.

Last week’s win over Boston College broke a tie with Frank Leahy’s teams that won 21 consecutive such games from 1946-48.


1 With a victory, this would be the first time Notre Dame won its final regular season game in back-to-back years in California since Stanford was permanently added to the schedule on an annual basis in 1997. Notre Dame ended last year's regular season with a 24-17 conquest of USC.

The last time the Irish had back-to-back seasons in which they finished with a win in the final regular season contest was 2000 at 5-7 USC (38-21) and then at Purdue (24-18) in 2001, a game that was moved to Dec. 1 because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the country.

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