Saturday night in Provo is carrying a little more weight than usual. When No.
2 Notre Dame walks into LaVell Edwards Stadium to face No. 8 BYU, it will be the first game in the stadium’s history to feature two teams ranked inside the AP Top 10.
That alone puts this matchup in a different category. LaVell Edwards Stadium, which opened in 1964 and was once known as Cougar Stadium, has never seen a top-10-on-top-10 meeting before.
Now it gets one with both programs sitting high in the Week 7 AP Top 25 poll, released Sunday: Notre Dame at No. 2, BYU still at No.
For BYU, this is familiar territory in one important sense. It’s the second straight year the Cougars have been part of a top-10 game, following last season’s meeting with Texas Tech in Lubbock.
But this one comes with the added distinction of bringing the highest-ranked opponent to Provo since 2004, when No. 1 USC came in and beat the Cougars.
The Irish are also a rare visitor in this stadium’s history. Notre Dame will be making its third trip to Provo on Saturday, and the one everyone remembers came in 1993, when the Irish arrived ranked No. 3 and left with a 45-20 win over BYU.
The current Notre Dame team is the third-highest-ranked opponent ever to play in Provo, trailing only that 2004 USC team and No. 1 Miami in 1990.
The records and rankings only sharpen what’s already a strong matchup on paper. BYU comes in at 5-0.
Notre Dame is 6-0. And the all-time series still leans firmly in the Irish’s favor at 7-2.
The game is set for Saturday, October 17, 2026, with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. MDT. ABC will carry the telecast, and radio coverage will be on KSL NewsRadio, 102.7 FM and 1160 AM, with extended pregame beginning at noon.
In Other News...
BYU Gets A Clear Warning From UCF Before Provo Showdown
UCF left Stillwater with a 42-28 loss to No. 18 Oklahoma State, and the result did more than just extend its road losing streak to 12 games. It also offered a glimpse of a team with enough pop to make things interesting, especially with quarterback Keyone Jenkins turning in his best performance of the season by throwing four touchdown passes.
The Knights will now have a bye week before hosting No. 8 BYU, and that stretch of time gives them a chance to clean up the kind of mistake that flipped the game in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Cole Kozlowski was back on the field after receiving an additional year of eligibility, another note of stability for a group that will need every bit of it when the Cougars arrive in Provo. [Read more 🡒]
BYU's Win Exposed Two Risky Problems Kalani Sitake Can't Ignore
BYUs 24-10 win over Iowa State came with the kind of clean result that can mask a few uneasy truths, and Kalani Sitakes staff has some film to sort through before the next kick. The Cougars handled enough business to keep moving, but the game also put a spotlight on two areas that felt less settled than the final score suggests: how aggressively BYU wants to live on fourth down, and how much field-position volatility comes with Tiger Bachmeier working in the punt return game.
There was also a different kind of pressure on the offense once LJ Martin was out of the running game, because the Cougars had to lean harder on Bear Bachmeier at quarterback to keep drives alive. Bear delivered enough to help BYU win, but the balance of the attack looked different without Martins presence, and that is the sort of thing a staff notices fast in a league where the margins shrink every week. [Read more 🡒]
BYUs National Standing Just Got More Real Before Its Biggest Test
BYUs place in the national conversation keeps getting harder to ignore as the latest AP ballot starts to separate the contenders from the pretenders. With Texas falling to Oklahoma and Georgia taking down Alabama, the top of the college football picture got reshuffled again, and teams like Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Indiana also continue to shape how the race looks week by week. BYU sits right in that mix now, no longer just a feel-good note in the rankings but a team being judged alongside the sports biggest names.
The challenge, of course, is holding that position when the schedule stiffens and every week starts to feel like a referendum. The ballot also reflects how quickly other programs can climb or slip, with UCLA, Utah and Ole Miss part of the broader debate over who belongs where right now. For BYU, the next step is about more than just staying ranked. It is about proving the rise is real when the biggest test arrives. [Read more 🡒]