All week and really all season, all that anybody said about the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was that they don't deserve to be in the College Football Playoffs because they're an independent who don't play in a conference title game and don't have a good enough schedule.
Well, the Irish got to snuff out any of those arguments when they took on the No. 22 Pitt Panthers, one of the top teams in the ACC.
Just before the top-25 teams kicked off, offensive lineman Aamil Wagner, a redshirt junior for Notre Dame, gave the pregame speech of a lifetime and put the cherry on top of a motivation sundae that was already spilling over.
While I won't write out Wagner's speech word-for-word as it may get censored by your search engine, the gist was that the country, and specifically the Panthers, aren't giving enough respect to Notre Dame,
Aamil Wagner got the Irish ready to beat Pitt
After his speech, it took just seven minutes for the Fighting Irish to march down the field and score their first touchdown of the game. By halftime, the rout was on, and Notre Dame already held a 21-3 lead over the Panthers.
Count the F bombs from Notre Dame right tackle Aamil Wagner here…
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) November 15, 2025
Think he’s ready? This is how you get pumped for a ranked game on the road…
The general gist of Wagner’s pregame speech at Pitt: “These mother f***ers don’t respect you.”
Gotta let ‘em know. pic.twitter.com/rHcXxPZLbJ
As the second half unfolded, Notre Dame continued their dominance, scoring a touchdown (and converting a two-point attempt) in the third quarter and continuing to hold Pitt to a single touchdown (and denying them the extra point).
Heading into the top-25 matchup, Notre Dame had all of the usual doubters and naysayers despite their impressive 7-2 overall record that included a 10-point win over the then-No. 20 USC Trojans.
Yet, their No. 9 ranking in the second College Football Playoff ranking of the season was apparently far too high. Even head coaches across the country, like Texas Tech's Joey McGuire, were firing shots at the Irish for being overrated and undeserving.
The quick start and dominant performance, undeniably fueled by Wagner's pregame speech, was only further proof that Notre Dame receives every ounce of hype that the team receives.