Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons Irish will be contenders again in 2019

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and his team wait to head on to the field for the start of the game against the Syracuse Orange at MetLife Stadium on October 1, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 01: Khaleke Hudson #7 of the Michigan Wolverines tackles Chris Finke #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second quarter at Notre Dame Stadium on September 1, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

4. Irish will be battle-tested early on

This may not seem like a big deal, but Notre Dame will be battle-tested early on, which will help the Irish down the stretch.

The season might start with two sure wins in Louisville and New Mexico, but that’ll quickly be followed up with a battle at Georgia and a tough home game against a rising Virginia team with one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the nation.

Notre Dame will get a slight break with Bowling Green on Oct. 5, but will then get USC before a bye week to prepare for a likely top-10 opponent in Michigan on the road. It’ll host Virginia Tech, travel to Duke, host Navy and Boston College before ending the season at Stanford.

This season’s schedule is arguably tougher than last year’s and being battle-tested by the middle of the season is crucial for national title contenders. You don’t want to go the whole season without facing a tough opponent only to get smacked in your first true test.

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