The biggest stage in Provo is here, and BYU is stepping into it with everything on the line. When No.
8 BYU hosts No. 2 Notre Dame on Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium, it will be a primetime matchup between unbeaten teams, with the Cougars sitting at 5-0 and the Fighting Irish at 6-0.
For BYU, this is more than just another ranked game. A win would give the Cougars a major boost in the College Football Playoff race and could push the program even deeper into the national conversation. Notre Dame arrives with the kind of expectations that come with a title chase, and it backed those up last week with a 58-7 win over Stanford.
Kalani Sitake made it clear he knows exactly what’s coming. “We're facing a great Notre Dame team, ranked No. 2 for a reason; they could easily be No.
1,” Sitake said. “I've been really impressed with their program, really impressed with the way Marcus Freeman's leading that team.
He's one of the best coaches in college football and football altogether.”
The Irish offense runs through junior quarterback CJ Carr, who has put himself squarely in the Heisman conversation. He ranks sixth nationally with 16 touchdown passes and has added three rushing scores. But the challenge for BYU may not stop with Carr.
Notre Dame’s backfield is deep, physical and productive, led by Jonaz Walton, who has 409 rushing yards. Nolan James Jr. has piled up 335 yards and leads the team with five rushing touchdowns, while Aneyas Williams has added 294 yards and three scores. Sitake pointed to that depth as one of the most daunting parts of preparing for the Irish.
“They don't have a lot of weak links on their team, and they're very deep, too,” Sitake said. “You have three running backs that can run the ball at any moment.
It's crazy to have that depth, and that's just the running back position. You can see that they have depth all over every position.”
That run game will meet a BYU defense that has been stout all season. The Cougars enter Saturday with the nation’s 10th-best run defense, giving up just 80.4 yards per game. Defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa knows the task in front of that group is a serious one.
“They're very fundamentally sound,” Tanuvasa said. “I think their O-line does a great job working well together, along with them being dynamic. I think they just have great players.”
Both defenses are ranked among the nation’s best, which only raises the tension around what figures to be a physical, narrow-margin game. Sitake said the Cougars understand the stakes and are approaching it with added urgency.
“We see it on film, we know they're ranked really high,” he said. “We know that they're very talented.
So the sense of urgency actually ramps up a little bit more. I'm not saying that that doesn't happen naturally with the other games.
Our business-like approach will be the same, but there's going to be a little bit more attention to detail and there's a lot more riding on it.”
The spotlight around the game reaches beyond the field as well. College GameDay is heading to Provo for the first time since 2009, giving Saturday’s matchup a national stage before kickoff even begins. For Tanuvasa, that means a different kind of atmosphere.
“It's ecstatic,” Tanuvasa said. “It comes with a lot more energy, a lot more cameras, a lot more noise, more interviews and stuff like that for the boys.”
The Cougars have been on College GameDay four times before and lost each one. They also carry a four-game losing streak against Notre Dame, and their last win over the Irish came in 2004, when BYU last hosted them at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Sitake expressed gratitude for the matchup itself. “I'm just really thankful to Notre Dame,” Sitake said. “They're the ones that reached out and wanted this game.”
BYU will face Notre Dame for the first time since 2022, when the Cougars lost 28-20 in Las Vegas. This time, they get the Irish at home, with a packed stadium, a national audience and a chance to show how far the program has come.
In Other News...
BYU Just Made A Clear Statement Before Notre Dame
BYU is leaning into a familiar look for one of its biggest stages of the season, choosing its classic royal home uniforms with white pants and a white helmet with a royal blue facemask for the game against Notre Dame. It is a throwback combination that was most associated with the 1980s and 1990s, and it gives the Cougars a clean, traditional presentation for a matchup that will draw plenty of attention.
The choice also stands out because BYU has already rotated through multiple uniform combinations this season, but this one feels deliberate. The Cougars last wore the look in November 2025 against TCU, and bringing it back now suggests they want the classic brand front and center when the spotlight is brightest. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Gets Timely Injury Boost Ahead Of Notre Dame
BYU got a useful lift this week as it heads into its matchup with Notre Dame, with starters Raider Damuni and Isaiah Glasker both back on the depth chart after dealing with injuries. Kalani Sitake said most of the regulars should be available, a welcome bit of news for a team trying to line up as close to full strength as possible for one of the biggest games on its schedule.
The Cougars still have a couple of notable absences to sort through, with Andrew Gentry and LJ Martin not yet back in the mix. Running back Sione Moa has returned to practice, but he has not been added back to the depth chart yet, leaving BYU with a little more clarity than it had earlier in the week and a few questions still hanging over the final game-day setup. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Added A Tradition Twist To Notre Dame Week
BYU is leaning into a classic look for one of its biggest nonconference stages of the season. For Saturdays meeting with Notre Dame, the Cougars announced they will go with a white helmet featuring the royal blue stretch Y, paired with a royal blue uniform and white pants with royal blue stripes, a combination that gives the matchup a little extra throwback feel.
It is the first time BYU has worn that set against Notre Dame since 1993, and the look most recently appeared in last years game against TCU. The primetime slot only adds to the spotlight, with kickoff set for 5:30 p.m. MDT on ABC, and the uniforms now join the list of small details that tend to matter when a program is trying to make a statement in a game like this. [Read more 🡒]