Notre Dame has played really strong football throughout the middle part of its schedule. The Irish enter November on a six-game winning streak and with Marcus Freeman sporting his best record at this point in any season as the head man for the Irish at 7-1. The Irish have been and are trending up.

Notre Dame re-emerged in the Top 25 two weeks ago. The CFP committee agrees. But now that the Irish are ranked No. 10 in The AP Top 25 and the initial playoff rankings, they can't afford another stumble when they play reeling Florida State.

In their last outing, Notre Dame defeated long time rival, Navy, 51-14. This was far and away the offense's most complete showing of the season which brings a lot of excitement to the table when talking about their final four games prior to the playoffs.