At long last, BYU will finally play Notre Dame after Pop-Tart Bowl snub

One of the top games for Week 7 of the 2026 college football season will be between No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 8 BYU. Notre Dame is 6-0 overall after crushing Stanford 58-7 last Saturday. This will be the Fighting Irish’s first true test of the season before playing the No. 3 Miami Hurricanes later in the year. MORE: USA Today releases college football Coaches Poll Top 25 after crazy Week 6 Meanwhile, the BYU Cougars are 5-0 after defeating the Iowa State Cyclones 24-10 this past Friday. They’ve played only one one-score game, and it came against the TCU Horned Frogs on Oct. 3, 17-10. They were set to play the Fighting Irish in the Pop-Tarts Bowl until the latter backed out after missing the College Football Playoff. Well, the Cougars will now get their chance to show what they can do when they host the Irish on Saturday night. The stakes of this game This game is a chance for both teams to show the country that they are serious contenders for this year’s national title. BYU is the top team in the Big 12, but it will now face a Notre Dame team that is extremely well coached and has Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback CJ Carr. Meanwhile, Notre Dame will face a BYU team that’s been defensively stout through its first five games. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC. —  Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter  —