Notre Dame must avoid the trap

Notre Dame has played very strong football in the middle part of its schedule. The Irish enter November on a six-game winning streak and with Marcus Freeman having his best record at this point in any season as the Irish’s leader at 7-1. The Irish were and are on trend.

As for Notre Dame’s opponent this week Florida State? After a 13-0 ACC campaign last season, the Seminoles are a miserable 1-8 with no end in sight. This football team has a lot of raw talent, but can’t seem to put it all together to play winning football. There’s a reason Notre Dame is currently sitting as a 4-point favorite. They were so bad.

Regardless of record, Notre Dame can’t afford to look past FSU. The biggest mistake the Irish can make is to take this team lightly based on their record and give the Seminoles the only highlight of a year they’d like to forget.

There’s too much on the line to let that happen. And Notre Dame went too far in Week 2 to lose at home to a team they shouldn’t, again. Notre Dame needs to be laser focused. This is November playoff push football.

Notre Dame should pay no attention to the CFP circus

While the college football media and fans have had their fill of CFP content, debate, reaction and reviews in response to the initial rankings that have Notre Dame at No. 10 and in a good playoff position, the team cannot afford to pay so much attention if not for this circus.

For any of the talk about how Notre Dame could get a first-round seed or the speculation about which team the Irish might face in the first round, four more games must be won.

I think it’s important for the Irish program to understand the position they’re in and what’s on the line in terms of their playoff position, but beyond that, the team needs to focus on the next game in front of them and nothing else.

Notre Dame has been counted out by most of the country since week two. To his credit, he fought back in playoff position by winning week after week. The playoff light can now be seen at the end of the tunnel, there can be no distractions now. He just wins through a rapid maturation program under a coach who develops his own.

For more Irish news and notes, follow John on Twitter @alwaysirishINC, Always Irish on Youtube and or your favorite audio podcast provider.

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