It played its last regular-season game six days ago, as late Saturday night on the East Coast melted into the early-morning hours of Sunday.
Notre Dame, in perfunctory fashion, took a 14-0 first-quarter lead, expanded that margin in the second quarter and then had suffocated host Stanford, 42-6, through three quarters of what concluded a 49-20 win.
The Fighting Irish entered that game as the College Football Playoff's No. 9 team per the CFP Selection Committee and it won by more than the 24-point threshold for maximum margin of victory impact in the CFP formula.
Tuesday night, Notre Dame dropped to No. 10 in the CFP rankings; it fell a spot behind Alabama, which outlasted Auburn, 27-20, to secure a berth in Saturday's SEC Championship.
Friday, Irish athletics director Pete Bevacqua went on the Pat McAfee Show to proclaim Notre Dame's CFP-worthiness.
Sunday, the CFP Selection Committee seeds the final 12 teams in this year's tournament.
He did not take any shots at Miami; Bevacqua instead pushed the comparison between Marcus Freeman's program and the Crimson Tide.
Hats off to Ohio State and Indiana to have undefeated seasons like they've had this year in 2025 is such an accomplishment; I think with the exception of those two teams, we're the hottest team in the country," Bevacqua said within the opening minute of his appearance. "No team is hotter than Notre Dame. ...
"I think we're firing on all cylinders. For us, when you hear the committee and hear Hunter (Yurachek) talk, the comparison has always been with Alabama. He even said that as recently as Tuesday. We've been clustered with Alabama. Who deserves to be higher, Notre Dame or Alabama? So that's really what we've been focused on. In my opinion, the committee has really spoken about the ND-Miami issue, as I see it.
"Hey, it was the first game of the season. Miami's a really good team, but quite frankly, as I said to someone here today, nobody wins the race at the starting line. And I really think right now, there's not a team in the country playing better football than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish."
Bevacqua did divulge the near potential for significant news in the CFP field as it pertained to ongoing discussions among the CFP's Board of Managers, of which Bevacqua is a member as Notre Dame's representative alongside ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West, Pac-12 and Sun Belt reps.
"I think there's almost unanimity in that room that we should be at 16 teams with five automatic qualifiers and 11 at large," Bevacqua told McAfee and ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit. "I think about this Notre Dame team, again I'm biased, but I think we have the absolute best player in college football in Jeremiyah Love; I've not seen somebody this electrifying since Reggie Bush and Rocket (Ismail) before that.
"Sixteen is the answer; five automatics and 11 at large. I hope we get that sooner than later."
Bevacqua didn't rule out the possibility of that expansion being approved next month when the Board of Managers meets the week of the CFP Championship; he expressed optimism the CFP field certainly would expand to 16 teams no later than 2027.
The former head of NBC Sports and a former certified agent for Creative Artists Agency, Bevacqua also indicated the ACC needed to examine its championship format with Miami easily the ACC's highest-ranked team at CFP No. 12 and also the league's best squad per the metrics used by the CFP.
"When you think about it and think about conference championships this year, think about Miami," Bevacqua, who drilled down on comparing Notre Dame and Alabama's placement in the rankings, said. "They had two tough losses deep into the season.
"Miami should be playing in the (ACC) conference championship with a chance to win that conference with as talented as they are."
Bevacqua further cited Notre Dame's dominant win at Pittsburgh last month in which ESPN's College GameDay was on site and when the Panthers had surged in the CFP Top 25 and "that was like a Super Bowl for the University of Pittsburgh."
But Bevacqua doubled down on Notre Dame's independence, even with the Irish's CFP hopes this season left in the hands of the outcome of specifically the Big 12 title bout between BYU and Texas Tech and less so the ACC Championship pitting five-loss Duke against two-loss Virginia.
"We eat what we kill," Bevacqua said of not being in a conference. He referenced that Notre Dame makes no money if it doesn't advance into the CFP field and also touted the program's upcoming series with Alabama, Clemson, Texas and expressed optimism the USC-Notre Dame rivalry would be continued.