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Notre Dame Football: Top Storylines vs Stanford

By Connor McJunkin

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 09: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish rolls out against the Duke Blue Devils during the first quarter of their game at Wallace Wade Stadium on November 09, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 09: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish rolls out against the Duke Blue Devils during the first quarter of their game at Wallace Wade Stadium on November 09, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, IN – NOVEMBER 23: Kyle Hamilton #14 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs with the ball after intercepting a pass against the Boston College Eagles in the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on November 23, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Boston College 40-7. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

After a dominating 40-7 beat down of Boston College, Notre Dame football enters the season finale vs Stanford 9-2 and riding a four game winning streak.

I refuse to believe this is the second to last storyline article I’ll be writing for the 2019 Notre Dame season. Where has the season gone? It seems like yesterday we were watching Ian Book break a cheerleader’s nose with a pass in week one.

Now, here we are, just a few days removed from the season finale vs the Stanford Cardinal.

This season has been an up and down one, as most Notre Dame football seasons tend to be. Riding the high of last year’s CFP birth, many saw and expected a repeat invitation to the big stage, especially with the returning talent on the roster.

After dropping (another) heart breaker to No. 3 Georgia in week four, those postseason aspirations became a long-shot, but still not impossible. A month later, however, they did become impossible after the Irish had their annual primetime meltdown game, losing to Michigan 45-14.

Now, there has been plenty of good this season as well. We’ve seen Chase Claypool and Cole Kmet exceed expectations and solidify themselves as legitimate NFL-caliber players. True freshman Kyle Hamilton has quickly cemented himself as a force to be reckoned with in the secondary for the next two years. Lastly, Notre Dame has still won nine games, has a chance at their third straight 10-win season, and extended their home winning streak to 18 games.

Despite what many of the Irish faithful might say, this season isn’t a wash. There is still a lot to be playing for, including a possible, yet unlikely, New Year’s Six Bowl game and back-to-back 11+ win seasons.

To get there, it starts with defeating cross-country rival Stanford in the last game of the regular season.

Like many Irish opponents over the last two years, this game was a much bigger matchup on paper in the off-season. Now, with Stanford coming into the game 4-7, this hardly resembles the Top-15 road matchup we expected at the start of the season.

In the midst of a three game losing streak, the Cardinals are dead last in the Pac-12 North and will not be bowl eligible for the first time since they went 5-7 in 2008.

But, as I’ve stated before, everyone plays Notre Dame tough and to Stanford and these seniors, this is their bowl game. Taking down Notre Dame would salvage their season, much like last year’s finale vs USC provided the same opportunity for the Trojans.

So, even though this game isn’t as hyped up as anticipated a few months ago, it’s still Stanford, a program that has been a thorn in the side of every Notre Dame fan for a decade now. Here are the top storylines to watch for in the battle for the Legends Trophy this Saturday.

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