Notre Dame football heads to Chapel Hill at noon ET on Saturday to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels, hoping to extend its record to 5-0.

The Fighting Irish, currently ranked No. 3 in the AP poll, will face a Tar Heels program led by all-time NFL great Bill Belichick, who is hoping for a massive top-5 victory at home. In one corner stands Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, and in the other, one of the most decorated coaching minds in football history.

While Notre Dame has done a lot of great things during its 4-0 start, including victories over Wisconsin, Rice, Michigan State, and Purdue, there are always things that need to be improved upon. That leaves several questions that still remain as the Fighting Irish eye a trip to BYU and matchups against Miami and SMU before hopefully a deep playoff run.

Here are the biggest questions left to be answered.

How does the run game translate to bigger games?

The Notre Dame run game has been a massive conversation point over the first few weeks. The Fighting Irish did just have their best performance of the season against Purdue, rushing the ball 32 times for 177 yards and two touchdowns as a unit. That is a 5.5-yard-per-carry average, bolstering their rush game to 141.8 yards per game through the first four contests.

If you watched the first three weeks, you were pretty underwhelmed by the overall performance of the Notre Dame run game led by running backs Aneyas Williams and Nolan James Jr. Things were certainly better against Purdue. They started a lot better, and despite a lull in the middle section of the game, they also finished strong, including another nice performance from true freshman Jonaz Walton.

While that would indicate things are trending upward, the context to know is that Purdue has one of the worst rush defenses in college football, having given up 370 yards to UCLA the week prior. The biggest question is not whether Notre Dame’s running game is trending upward. I think that is objectively correct.

The question is when you get into the bigger games, how well will the improvements translate to the performances that matter most? Will the Fighting Irish be able to run the football against Miami, or when they hopefully have a deep playoff run, or even away at BYU in Provo?

Those questions remain to be answered, and we won’t have a true answer to them until a few weeks from now.

Slot receiver impact

This is a question that could get some answers this weekend. Through four games, the Notre Dame slot position, led by wide receiver Jaden Greathouse and Mylan Graham, has been underwhelming.

That duo has hauled in just nine receptions for 122 yards so far, the bulk of that coming from Greathouse. We have seen a couple of nice plays from Greathouse in half of the contests and absolutely nothing in the other, while Graham is still clearly trying to get his rhythm and feet under him with quarterback CJ Carr.

Notre Dame has been saved by starting boundary wide receiver Micah Gilbert, who leads this team with 337 yards, as well as Jordan Faison, who has been a consistent weapon at the Z position. If Notre Dame’s passing offense is going to become a well-balanced group overall, they need to figure out how to get that slot position more consistent and productive.

So far, that has been a big issue. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Greathouse and Graham as a part of the early game plan this week against the Tar Heels.

Tight end usage

Similarly to the slot position, the tight ends as a group have hauled in just nine receptions for 69 yards and three touchdowns. Notre Dame did see a slight uptick in production last week with three receptions for 38 yards between Cooper Flanagan and James Flanigan. However, that is just not the volume we are used to from Notre Dame offenses.

It has never been a massive part of offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock’s system in general, so it is possible that the tight end room is more a de facto extra blocker (or extra couple of blockers) than a legitimate pass game weapon. However, with the slot position not working incredibly well so far, tight end is another spot that could use a little injection of volume because both interior pass-catching positions do limit the offense just a tad.

Can Notre Dame get anything more out of this tight end room as it currently stands, or does a younger guy like Ian Premer start to get some opportunities over the next several weeks?

Right guard position

Sullivan Absher has done an admirable job at right guard, but he is the weak link of the offensive line right now. Offensive guard Anthonie Knapp at left guard has performed at an extremely high level, while Will Black and Guerby Lambert showed a lot of improvements against Purdue. Center Ashton Craig is also a consistent fixture.

Right guard is a troubling area, and unfortunately for Absher, I’m not sure he is going to be able to answer this question by himself.

It remains uncertain when Matty Augustine, a sophomore offensive guard, will return after a foot injury cut his fall camp short. He was supposed to battle with Absher for that starting right guard position in the preseason.

Will there be an answer at the right guard spot? Will Absher be able to take his game to the next level? No matter what, that is the one big area on the offensive line that still remains cloudy and a question mark.

Get some of the younger guys playing time

This is a rich man’s problem, but players like safety Joey O’Brien and five-star freshman defensive end Rodney Dunham look like they are ready to play. At each of those positions, there is a lot of talent already on the field. On the edge, Notre Dame has Bryce Young and Boubacar Traore, while at safety, Adon Shuler, Luke Talich, and eventually Brauntae Johnson when he returns give the Fighting Irish plenty of depth.

So will Notre Dame be able to up the opportunities for players like Dunham or O’Brien? It’s a good problem to have, but it could be the potential difference between winning a close football game in the end.

Dunham looks like perhaps the most talented overall pass rusher on this team, so getting him on the field at times would most likely be advantageous. Is there a spot where you can get O’Brien on the field as well with his 6-5, 205-pound frame? These are the fun conversations to have this time of year.

Just how good is Christian Gray at nickel?

This isn’t a major concern because I do think cornerback Christian Gray has done a good job at nickel, but he is soon going to get a lot of tests out of the slot.

The biggest one will come when Notre Dame takes on Miami and star receiver Malachi Toney. Cornerback Leonard Moore is an All-American and a potential top-10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, and DJ McKinney has been fantastic at field corner so far. When you go against a team like Miami, however, with the success they had last season, you are going to see Gray tested.

Is he up for the task? I think that he has the potential to be very good in that spot, but he has not really been tested over the first couple of games. Those opportunities are going to come in the future, and it will be worth keeping a close eye on just how good Gray is at the nickel.