3 most important games for Notre Dame football in 2024

1. Florida State (Nov. 9)

There are a couple of sneaky-solid games on Notre Dame's schedule like at Georgia Tech (Oct. 19) or Louisville (Sept. 28), but this home game against Florida State takes the cake as the most important.

Florida State comes to town late in the season looking to repeat as the ACC champion under Mike Norvell and while this game has no bearing on that conference title race, it will affect the Seminoles' playoff push. If they lose to Notre Dame here, there's a good chance that their playoff hopes could be crushed but a win would have the opposite effect.

The same could be true for Notre Dame, especially if the Irish have a loss coming into this game because not having a conference title to win could hurt them big-time.

Let's say Notre Dame is 7-1 heading into this game, that's a must-win. If the Irish are 8-0, a loss wouldn't be the end of the world, but that would force them to have to win out, including beating a tough USC team on the road. Either way, this feels like a game that Notre Dame needs to prove itself in and a loss could potentially crush playoff hopes.

It's time for Marcus Freeman to prove he belongs in the playoff.