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The 3rd-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-0) host the Rice Owls (1-0) in their home opener this afternoon inside of Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish are coming off of an impressive victory in Week 1 over the Wisconsin Badgers 41-13 and look to keep the momentum rolling in this one. Head coach Marcus Freeman will be looking to change the narrative about his program in home openers and he'll have to do it against a Rice team coming into this matchup with nothing to lose. 

Owls head coach Scott Abell is headed into year two at the helm and looks to make a run and turn things around in AAC play. One way to put people on notice is giving Notre Dame all they can handle. He knows there's a clear athletic advantage on the Fighting Irish sideline but this isn't a fight he or the Owls look to back down from. 

Where: Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame Stadium 
When: 3:30 PM ET
Television: NBC/Peacock – Dan Hicks (play-by-play), Jason Garrett (analyst), Caroline Pineda (sideline)
Radio: Tony Simeone (play-by-play), Mike Golic Sr. (analyst); SiriusXM 84
Line: Notre Dame -44.5; O/U 54.5

WHAT TO KNOW: NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

Notre Dame has entered this season as one of the favorites to contend for and win the national title. They've caught a lot of flack for their regular season schedule outside of three games, on the road against BYU, home against Miami and home against SMU. This is a game the Irish should dominate fueled by a strong offensive performance by quarterback CJ Carr and a dominate performance on defense from coordinator Chris Ash who is now in year two and a host of returning talent. 

The Irish have not fared well against G6 teams in home openers under Freeman. The fifth-year head coach has yet to beat an FBS opponent in game No. 1 of the season inside of Notre Dame Stadium. They lost to Marshall in 2022, Northern Illinois in 2024 and Texas A&M in 2025. This year is a prime opportunity to change that narrative and do it in resounding fashion. Notre Dame is one of the few teams in the country that many project to go undefeated in the regular season. One way to ensure that coming to fruition is handling business at home against an inferior opponent in September. 

WHAT TO KNOW: RICE OWLS

Rice is coming off a 5-8 season last year. Despite finishing the regular season 5-7, they got a bid to play in the Armed Forces Bowl against Texas State and lost in resounding fashion 41-10. They lost a good portion of their roster but return players like Quinton Jackson, who's out for this matchup, offensive lineman Luke Miller and a handful of players on defense. The Owls will be supported by some portal pick ups like Jaccuri Brown at quarterback who look to elevate this offense. 

They run a very gimmicky offense, not in a negative way, but they won't have the athletic advantage in the majority of games they play this season. Offensive coordinator Vince Munch will have to get creative with the way he schemes his players to put them in positions to win. 

Notre Dame and Rice have played each other five times in their series history and the Irish are 5-0 in those contests. Their last meeting was in 2014 in the season opener, a game Notre Dame won 48-17. Oddly enough, two of the times the Irish played the Owls was in 1988 and 1973, years they won a national title. Could that be a preview of things to come? Let's hope so. 

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