A bye week allowed Notre Dame extra time to refresh and refocus on its game against Stanford on Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Ind. However, the No. 11 Fighting Irish (4-1) know that being rested is not as important as being prepared for their non-conference game against the Cardinal (2-3).
"There is no magic formula," Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. "I think every bye week is different, right? Where it occurs in your season, what injuries you have going on, your upcoming opponent. There's a lot of different things that you have to focus on during that specific bye week.
" This time, Freeman is focused on keeping his players sharp against an opponent that knocked off the Fighting Irish in its most recent visit to Notre Dame Stadium. Stanford held on for a 16-14 win on the road against Notre Dame in 2022, and last season the Fighting Irish won 56-23 in Stanford, Calif. Both teams feature plenty of new players from the last time the teams met in South Bend.
Among them is Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, who has passed for 750 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions and has rushed for 374 yards and seven touchdowns in his first five games with the program. Freeman studied Leonard during the bye week, saying he thought the quarterback "did a really good job of decision-making." "Two weeks ago, I said we have to continue to focus on our move-to-pocket throws, which I thought he did a better job at," Freeman said.
"I have a lot of confidence in Riley. Nobody play.
