The last word: Final thoughts before Notre Dame football vs. Louisville

These are the games Notre Dame cannot lose if the Fighting Irish are for real. If the Fighting Irish seriously have a shot of running the table and sneaking into the College Football Playoff.

Heck, CFP aside. These are the games Notre Dame just cannot lose.

Yeah, Louisville is undefeated. Louisville is ranked. Louisville has an alum as its first-year head coach, and the program seems as synergized and aligned as it has been in a while. Maybe more than it’s ever been. There are good vibes in the town built along the banks of the Ohio River.

But aren’t there good vibes in South Bend, too, even with a big ole “1” sitting in the loss column? Notre Dame should have won that game. And it snapped out of a week-long hangover just in time to defeat the No. 17 team in the country on the road to give Duke its first big ole “1” in the loss column. That was a good win no matter what happened in the first 57 and a half minutes of the game.

There are better players in South Bend than those in Louisville. Notre Dame is around a touchdown favorite on the road, under the lights, for a reason. For many reasons. The Irish are just better. But if they don’t prove it Saturday, then that’s when things get thrown for a loop. A nasty one that leaves you throwing up, never wanting to ride a roller coaster ever again.

It’s do or die every week from the Irish from now through the end of November. But if they lose just one more game, that feeling is lost entirely. It won’t matter anymore. It’d just be playing for pride. That’s not as fun as playing for pride AND playing for a chance to be one of the four teams competing for a national championship in December.

So let’s just watch, wait and see what these weeks bring. A couple of them ago brought heartbreak. The last one was exhilarating. Notre Dame fans would be completely fine if this one was squarely in the middle; completely comfortable and uneventful. Easy, if you will. Save whatever theatrics are left for when USC comes to town in seven days.

Championship teams have squeakers. Sometimes, they even lose a game. We don’t know if Notre Dame is a championship team, but we will know for certain that it’s not if the Irish don’t take care of business against Louisville Saturday night.

So, simple solution; just don’t do it. Can’t afford to.

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