Confidence high for No. 9 Irish after 3 big wins to begin season

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - The Fighting Irish are 3-0 and ranked No. 9 in the nation after a dominant start to the season.

Notre Dame’s average margin of victory so far is more than five touchdowns after picking up big wins over Navy, Tennessee State, and NC State. And this year’s start is a far cry from last year when the Irish started 1-2.

16 Sports talked to a couple of the players this week about how this year’s team feels compared to others. And right now, the Irish are feeling confident about where they’re at.

“I think (Al) Golden said today in the team meeting that we had a swagger about ourselves, like we’re feeling ourselves, like we know that we can compete with anybody right now, and we feed off that,” said defensive lineman Howard Cross III.

“It’s been very fun and humbling to be a part of a group of men that come out here every single day and give everything,” said quarterback Sam Hartman. “If you’re not ready to go, you’re going to get exposed on the practice field, and it’s definitely carried over to the game field.”

The Irish return home this weekend to play Central Michigan. Kickoff for Saturday’s game at Notre Dame Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m. EDT. A reminder, the game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock.

Meanwhile, we want to hear from you ahead of this weekend’s matchup. In this week’s Lochmandy Auto Group Irish Fan Poll, we’re asking you who you think has been the MVP of Notre Dame’s defense so far this season? Click here to vote!

We’ll share the results on Countdown to Kickoff, which airs right here on WNDU Friday night at 7 p.m.

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