In assessing the 2017 Notre Dame football schedule, the 12 contests that make it up can generally be put into specific categories. In case of three of those games, the spotlight figures to shine a lot more brightly because of their perceived prominence. In short, these are the marquee matchups that aren’t treated as just another opponent on the schedule.
Each of these battles is spread out over the course of the season, which helps Brian Kelly’s squad keep their emotions at an even keel. Had they been bunched together, Notre Dame likely would have been faced with the prospect of having to deliver a series of peak performances within a short period of time, something that’s hard to sustain, even for the best college football squads.