Does Notre Dame Play Football Today? How To Watch Live Stream, TV Channel, Time

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Notre Dame football opens Week 1 with fans looking for when the Fighting Irish play, who they face and how to watch the game live.

With college football kicking off the 2026 season in earnest Saturday, is No. 4 Notre Dame on the schedule in Week 1? As it turns out, with the NFL still idle, fans of the Fighting Irish will need to wait until Sunday night to watch Notre Dame open its season with a game at legendary Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Notre Dame’s opponent will, in fact, be Wisconsin, in what is officially a makeup game postponed from the pandemic-marred 2020 season. In 2026, Notre Dame opens as a 20.5-point favorite over Wisconsin, with redshirt sophomore C.J. Carr under center.

Kickoff arrives at 7:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, Sept. 6 on NBC. Dan Hicks will call the play-by-play with Jason Garrett handling in-game analysis. The NBC-owned Peacock app carries the live stream of Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin.

The game was scheduled for October 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic erased it. In addition, the game was moved to a Sunday slot to capitalize on the Labor Day weekend window, according to a Wisconsin announcement. Notre Dame won the first Shamrock Series meeting 41-13 at Soldier Field in 2021. Wisconsin’s only other game at Lambeau produced a 16-14 takedown of fifth-ranked LSU in 2016.

Notre Dame Quarterback C.J. Carr Enters Year Two

Carr threw for 2,741 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions last season, completing 66.6 percent of his attempts and adding three scores on the ground. He is the first Notre Dame quarterback since Ian Book in 2020 to open a season as the returning starter, and he arrives on the Heisman shortlist, according to Sports Illustrated college football analyst Nick Shepkowski.

Behind Carr, the QB depth chart thins out fast. Redshirt freshman Blake Hebert has never taken a college snap, and the other two scholarship options are true freshmen Noah Grubbs and Teddy Jarrard, who reclassified out of the 2027 class. Head coach Marcus Freeman has declined to lock in a No. 2, saying only that a designated replacement exists and that he wants both freshmen on the field when the score allows, according to The Athletic‘s Notre Dame camp report.

The ground game Carr inherits looks nothing like last year’s. First-round draft picks Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price are in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, respectively, leaving junior Aneyas Williams to head a rotation with Nolan James Jr. and Kedren Young. The Irish ranked 17th nationally at 203.4 rushing yards per game and tied for fifth with 38 rushing touchdowns in 2025. Senior captain Jordan Faison, who led the team with 49 catches for 640 yards, anchors the receivers.

Wisconsin QB Colton Joseph’s Expectations

Colton Joseph is the entire Wisconsin plan. The Old Dominion transfer threw for 2,624 yards and 21 touchdowns and ran for 1,007 yards and 13 scores on his way to Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year honors. Luke Fickell named him the starter but has left QB2 open between Louisville transfer Deuce Adams and freshman Ryan Hopkins, and called projected linemen Kevin Heywood and Emerson Mandell a “game-time decision,” according to The Daily Cardinal writer Ava Hudson.

Joseph will attack a defense that returns most of its production and is fronted by cornerback Leonard Moore. Wisconsin converted 32.26 percent of its third downs a year ago and scored 12.8 points per game, second-worst in the country.

Fickell enters year four at 17-21 overall, coming off consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1992. Wisconsin roughly doubled its roster budget past $25 million and imported more than 30 transfers, according to The Athletic‘s Wisconsin hot-seat report.

Notre Dame finished 10-2 last season, lost to Miami and Texas A&M, and was shut out of the College Football Playoff.