#7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were 8-3 in 1978. They emerged victorious over the Houston Cougars, 35 to 34, in the Cotton Bowl on January 1, 1979.

Scores & Schedules

See schedule

DATE		OPP	SCORE
Mon 1/1	vs	HOU	W 35-34
Sat 11/25	@	USC	L 25-27
Sat 11/18	@	GT	W 38-21
Sat 11/11	vs	TENN	W 31-14
Sat 11/4	vs	NAVY	W 27-7

Team Leaders

See roster

PASS YDS

2,010

Montana

RUSH YDS

1,192

Ferguson

REC YDS

699

Haines

Latest Notre Dame Fighting Irish News

No. 3 Notre Dame has no letdown after Miami win, routs Boston College 41-7

Nov 15, 2026
No. 3 Notre Dame hoping to avoid history with another letdown against Boston College

Nov 11, 2026
Florida cancels home-and-home series with Notre Dame after SEC's move to 9-game league slates

Nov 10, 2026
AP Player of the Week: Notre Dame's CJ Carr passed for 319 yards and 3 TDs against Miami

Nov 9, 2026
Georgia is back at No. 1 in AP Top 25 ahead of Utah and Notre Dame; Ohio State drops to No. 21

Nov 8, 2026

1978 Stats

See stats

	GP	PTS	YDS	PLY	AVG	RUSH YDS	RUSH ATT	RUSH AVG	PASS YDS	PASS ATT	PASS AVG
Team	11	258	4,355	832	5.2	2,299	561	4.1	2,056	271	7.6
Team Rank		43rd	21st	37th	22nd	51st	70th	43rd	21st	38th	22nd
Opponent	11	163	3,572		4.4	1,537	490	3.1	2,035	317	6.4
Opponent Rank		31st	61st		54th	22nd	20th	27th	132nd	133rd	65th
Net		+95	+783	+832	+0.8	+762	+71	+1.0	+21	-46	+1.2
Net Rank		32nd	38th	37th	33rd	32nd	39th	30th	65th	97th	33rd

More CFB News

Dampier accounts for 4 TDs, No. 2 Utah remains undefeated with 40-39 win over No. 22 Arizona

Nov 15, 2026

DJ Scott, Ray James Jr. rally North Dakota State to 21-13 victory over Hawaii

Nov 15, 2026

Ah Yat throws 3 TD passes, 2 to Gillman, Montana beats Idaho State 38-30

Nov 15, 2026

Kirby Vorhees has 4 of 9 TD runs by Washington State in skid-busting 73-7 romp over Colorado State

Nov 15, 2026

Peterson's 4 TDs help UTSA beat North Texas 35-16 for share of American Conference lead

Nov 15, 2026

No. 10 Texas Tech routs Oklahoma State 52-27

Nov 15, 2026

CFB 2026 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

3,239

Mestemaker

3,169

Atkinson

3,150

Fifita

Rush Yards Leaders

1,335

Flora

1,320

Sheppard

1,291

Riley

Rec Yards Leaders

1,349

Legree

1,317

Smith

1,045

Hatcher

Pass TD Leaders

30

Mestemaker

29

Mensah

29

Veltkamp

Rush TD Leaders

20

Hawkins

19

Sheppard

18

Gutierrez

Rec TD Leaders

15

Legree

15

Smith

13

Toney

QB Rating Leaders

186.8

Mensah

184.5

Sayin

179.8

Stockton

Sack Leaders

14.0

Bradley

11.5

Dean

11.0

Zock

CFB 2026 Rankings

PPG Rankings

44.1

43.9

42.2

41.8

39.7

Opp PPG Rankings

11.7

11.9

12.0

12.5

13.8

14.1

Total Yards Rankings

526.7

520.7

520.1

518.1

512.3

499.2

Rush Yards Rankings

344.0

324.7

298.1

265.6

258.7

240.7

Pass Yards Rankings

373.0

334.9

331.0

328.9

326.2

320.8

Sack Leaders

40.0

39.0

38.0

37.0

32.0

31.0

CFB 2026 Standings

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Boise State	9	1	.900
2	San Diego State	5	5	.500
3	Texas State	6	4	.600
4	Oregon State	5	5	.500
5	Utah State	4	6	.400
6	Fresno State	5	5	.500
7	Washington State	2	8	.200
8	Colorado State	3	7	.300

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	UCLA	10	0	1.000
2	Indiana	9	1	.900
3	Oregon	7	3	.700
4	Ohio State	7	3	.700
5	Iowa	8	2	.800
6	Wisconsin	6	4	.600
7	USC	7	3	.700
8	Illinois	6	4	.600
9	Penn State	6	4	.600
10	Minnesota	5	5	.500
11	Northwestern	6	4	.600
12	Washington	6	4	.600
13	Nebraska	6	4	.600
14	Maryland	4	6	.400
15	Michigan	5	5	.500
16	Purdue	3	7	.300
17	Michigan State	3	7	.300
18	Rutgers	2	8	.200

	Southeastern	W	L	PCT
1	Georgia	9	1	.900
2	Alabama	8	2	.800
3	Texas	8	2	.800
4	Tennessee	8	2	.800
5	Kentucky	7	3	.700
6	Ole Miss	6	3	.667
7	South Carolina	6	4	.600
8	Oklahoma	5	4	.556
9	Florida	6	4	.600
10	Auburn	6	4	.600
11	LSU	6	4	.600
12	Missouri	6	4	.600
13	Arkansas	4	6	.400
14	Mississippi State	4	6	.400
15	Texas A&M	4	6	.400
16	Vanderbilt	4	6	.400

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Liberty	9	1	.900
2	Jacksonville State	7	3	.700
3	Kennesaw State	4	6	.400
4	Middle Tennessee	5	5	.500
5	Delaware	5	5	.500
6	Western Kentucky	4	6	.400
7	Missouri State	4	6	.400
8	Florida International	4	6	.400
9	New Mexico State	3	7	.300
10	Sam Houston	1	9	.100

	Sun Belt	W	L	PCT
1	Louisiana Tech	8	2	.800
2	Georgia Southern	6	4	.600
3	Louisiana	7	3	.700
4	James Madison	8	3	.727
5	South Alabama	5	5	.500
6	Appalachian State	6	4	.600
7	Louisiana-Monroe	2	8	.200
8	Coastal Carolina	4	6	.400
9	Arkansas State	4	6	.400
10	Georgia State	5	5	.500
11	Troy	4	6	.400
12	Marshall	5	5	.500
13	Southern Miss	3	7	.300
14	Old Dominion	3	7	.300

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Miami	9	1	.900
2	Wake Forest	9	1	.900
3	Louisville	7	3	.700
4	SMU	7	3	.700
5	Duke	7	3	.700
6	Clemson	6	4	.600
7	Florida State	5	5	.500
8	Pittsburgh	6	4	.600
9	Stanford	5	5	.500
10	Virginia Tech	6	4	.600
11	Virginia	5	5	.500
12	Syracuse	5	5	.500
13	North Carolina	5	5	.500
14	Boston College	4	6	.400
15	NC State	4	6	.400
16	California	3	7	.300
17	Georgia Tech	3	7	.300

	Independent	W	L	PCT
1	Notre Dame	9	1	.900
2	UConn	5	5	.500

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	UTSA	8	2	.800
2	Memphis	8	2	.800
3	North Texas	7	3	.700
4	UAB	6	4	.600
5	East Carolina	6	4	.600
6	Army	5	4	.556
7	Tulsa	6	4	.600
8	Florida Atlantic	6	4	.600
9	Tulane	5	5	.500
10	South Florida	6	4	.600
11	Navy	3	6	.333
12	Charlotte	1	9	.100
13	Temple	2	8	.200
14	Rice	1	9	.100

	Mid-American	W	L	PCT
1	Toledo	8	2	.800
2	Western Michigan	7	3	.700
3	Buffalo	7	3	.700
4	Ohio	7	3	.700
5	Miami (OH)	6	4	.600
6	Central Michigan	5	5	.500
7	Eastern Michigan	4	6	.400
8	Bowling Green	3	7	.300
9	UMass	5	5	.500
10	Kent State	3	7	.300
11	Ball State	3	7	.300
12	Sacramento State	2	9	.182
13	Akron	1	9	.100

	Big 12	W	L	PCT
1	Utah	10	0	1.000
2	Texas Tech	9	1	.900
3	BYU	8	2	.800
4	Houston	7	3	.700
5	Baylor	6	4	.600
6	Arizona	7	3	.700
7	Arizona State	6	4	.600
8	Oklahoma State	6	4	.600
9	UCF	5	5	.500
10	Iowa State	5	5	.500
11	TCU	5	5	.500
12	Kansas	4	6	.400
13	West Virginia	5	5	.500
14	Cincinnati	5	5	.500
15	Colorado	4	6	.400
16	Kansas State	4	6	.400

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	Wyoming	7	3	.700
2	New Mexico	8	2	.800
3	North Dakota State	8	2	.800
4	Air Force	8	2	.800
5	UNLV	6	4	.600
6	Nevada	4	6	.400
7	San Jose State	5	6	.455
8	Hawai'i	3	7	.300
9	UTEP	1	9	.100
10	Northern Illinois	0	10	.000