The No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish will face their first true test of the college football season on Saturday when they travel to Provo to take on the No. 8 BYU Cougars.
Notre Dame’s only other major test on its schedule comes on Nov. 7, when it hosts the No. 3 Miami Hurricanes.
Kirk Herbstreit Calls Out Notre Dame’s Schedule
Although Herbstreit has backed the Fighting Irish this season and even picked them to win the national championship, he believes they need to schedule tougher opponents if the College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams.
Speaking on ESPN’s ‘Get Up,’ Herbstreit argued that programs such as Notre Dame need to face more challenging schedules rather than continue with their current approach.
“And that’s exactly my point… Notre Dame plays two games where they’re going to be challenged,” Herbstreit said. “This one where they’re favored and Miami at home. Think about what Alabama and Georgia and Ohio State and these teams with what they’re dealing with. That cannot continue. That’s an embarrassment and incredibly unfair.
“But this week they’re going to face a hostile environment. A lot of people sleep on Provo, Utah… they believe they’re a top 10 team in the country.”
“Notre Dame plays two games where they’re going to be challenged…think about what Alabama and Georgia and Ohio State and these teams with what they’re dealing with. That cannot continue. That’s an embarrassment and incredibly unfair.” – Kirk Herbstreit https://t.co/Lw4vxkGxty
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 16, 2026
Notre Dame fans react on social media
Fighting Irish fans, who already believe the college football media sometimes gives them the short end of the stick, didn’t take kindly to Herbstreit’s comments.
“Subtract BYU from Notre dame’s schedule and replace it with an FCS school and you have Miami’s schedule… care to comment @KirkHerbstreit?” one fan said.
Someone else added, “Hey Kirk, before you start crying over ND schedule you better check on Miami’s schedule. Are they being unfair to college football too????”
Another person wrote, “Just an incredibly lazy take by what’s supposed to be the mouthpiece of College Football.”
“Kirk Herbstreit back hating on Notre Dame. I guess his hypocrisy couldn’t last but so long. He gassed up ND all off-season just to flip back to the hate train mid-season,” a fan posted.
Interestingly, Herbstreit will call Saturday night’s Notre Dame-BYU game on ABC alongside Chris Fowler.
Kirk Herbstreit Faces Backlash Over Controversial Notre Dame Statement