The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will have to add another ACC game for every year that they play the Clemson Tigers. The conference announced on Thursday that the annual duel between Marcus Freeman and Dabo Swinney won't count as one of the conference matchups the Irish agreed to when they signed their deal.
That could mean that the USC series is just about dead. Notre Dame appears to have read the writing on the wall. The Trojans haven't looked like a program that wanted to keep the series alive.
Credit should go to Notre Dame Fighting Irish AD Pete Bevacqua for recognizing that the crew in South Bend is especially well-suited to have an annual rivalry game. With Michigan already gone and USC with a foot out the door, it made sense to add a Clemson rivalry as the next "hated" team that people drool over beating.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball stays on its roll.
Shawn Stiffler's squad's incredible turnaround this season continued on Thursday night with the start of the final regular-season series of the year. Against the Miami Hurricanes, the Irish kept their run going with a 3-2 victory, which showed just how well this team has been playing over the last 30 days.
Since the season's low water mark, when Notre Dame lost two of three to Boston College, Notre Dame has gone 15-2, is 31-19 overall, and has won seven in a row, including three in a row in the ACC and taking a series against Louisville. They'll need to win this series against the Hurricanes to keep looking at the possibility of an at-large bid to regionals.
Marcus Freeman's big run
The Blue and Gold are also on a heck of a run on the recruiting front. Marcus Freeman is as hot as any football coach in the country with his latest success being 4-star running back commit Jonaz Walton.
One day after committing to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, he sent some messages to fans that should make them very happy. He first sent a two-word message saying, "home forever." He then canceled any other visits, hammering home that he's planning on wearing the golden helmet for his college days."