If there’s one thing I envy about college football programs that are fully a part of a conference is the “predictable” nature of schedules. You plug in some tune up games for the first 4/5 matchups, get all of the nerves and potential for mishaps out of the way and then you spend the remainder of your season playing mostly consistent opponents. It’s not always that clean but in general it’s how it plays out, at least from a data perspective.
Notre Dame’s schedule historically and especially this year is terrible in this regard.