Notre Dame football fans, it’s time. The Fighting Irish head out of the bye week with a final four-game stretch left to determine how the 2024 college football season will end, positively or negatively. After an early season blunder against Northern Illinois, most Irish fans chalked this campaign up to another disappointment.

Credit to head coach Marcus Freeman and the rest of the Notre Dame staff. Since then, the team has remained focused and has continued to stack victories, six straight to date. They now head into a final stretch that includes Florida State, Army, Virginia, and USC before eventually learning their playoff future. On paper, it is a very manageable slate of games to say the least.

Notre Dame trending

Unlike a lot of college football teams near the top, Notre Dame is one of the few that you could argue could be peaking at the right time. After their week two stinker, the Irish seem to have steadily been finding their identity. They seem to be getting better each week, and have started to stack good performances.

On defense, defensive coordinator Al Golden has been an absolute mastermind this season. Even while dealing with a couple of huge injuries, such as All-American cornerback Benjamin Morrison, and defensive ends Boubacar Traore and Jordan Botelho, the unit has continued to churn out impressive performances.

In total, that defense has averaged to allow just 12.1 points per game, which is fourth best in college football. They are also allowing just 282.9 total yards, and allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete just 49 percent of their passes this season. It is truly an elite group.

The defense has, and will continue to be the known commodity for Notre Dame. The big difference for this team, however, is the play of the offense during this winning streak. After looking like a poor unit the first couple of weeks of the season, quarterback Riley Leonard and the unit has really turned it on. During their six straight victories, they are averaging north of 42 points per game.

When the offense is clicking, this team is incredibly difficult to stop. They are continuing to trend in a great direction as a team, and look to be their strongest in the most important part of the schedule.

Comparing to the rest of college football

That's competitive to a college football landscape that can’t be described as anything other than volatile. Oregon, who is considered the top program in college football right now, can beat Ohio State one week but looks pretty pedestrian against teams like Boise State and Idaho the next. Those were a couple of early season games, and they are another school who does seem to be trending in the right direction to be fair.

Georgia is the usual suspect up top, but they have looked maddeningly inconsistent all season. When they are on, they can beat anyone but when they aren’t, they can allow a poor Florida team to stick around. Alabama is similar, having already beaten Georgia, but then dropping a game to Vanderbilt.

We have seen Ohio State struggle against Nebraska, and play a half of awful football against Akron. Tennessee lost to Arkansas, Miami has its warts, and Penn State has James Franklin. Every team seemingly has a major flaw.

So the question needs to be answered, and it’s a serious one, why not Notre Dame? Why can’t this year be different?