Notre Dame survived the first two weeks by the skin of their teeth as they snuck by both Florida State and Toledo before looking a little better against Purdue and dominating the fourth quarter against Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin game was the first of a stretch of five-straight games for Notre Dame that is the toughest part of the schedule. After No. 7 Cincinnati this week it’ll be a trip to Virginia Tech before a bye week and then home contests against both USC and North Carolina.
We like to keep an eye on how ESPN’s Football Power Index projects things as the year goes on. Headed into the Cincinnati game here is how FPI sees Notre Dame’s chances in their eight remaining games of 2021: