Sam Hartman, Audric Estime will Notre Dame football to victory (video)

Notre Dame football was yards away from another painful loss and Sam Hartman just refused to let the Fighting Irish lose to Duke on Saturday night, saving the season with an epic run. 

Facing a 4th-and-16, Notre Dame football was one play away from being knocked out of the College Football Playoff race by the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday night.

That is until Sam Hartman literally willed the Notre Dame football team to victory. Last week, Hartman wasn’t able to pick up a key fourth down against Ohio State.

But this week, with the season on the line Saturday night in Durham, and Notre Dame football down one, 14-13, with less than a minute to go, Hartman saw an opening and this time, he made sure he wasn’t going to be denied.

Notre Dame needed 16 yards. Hartman got 18.

Two plays later, Audric Estime took the ball to the end zone. Notre Dame was able to convert the two-point conversion and forced a turnover on the next possession to wrap up a 21-14 win that really came down to Hartman’s will to win.

Before that drive started, Notre Dame football fans had to be asking if Hartman was the guy to lead the Irish to the promised land. At one point on Saturday, they missed 10 straight third-down conversion attempts.

But when it really mattered — Hartman picked up a key third down on the game-winning drive. That set the stage for his run, which led to the game-winning touchdown run by Estime and ultimately, saved Notre Dame’s season.