There was a strange element to the Notre Dame game that still feels wrong when you say it out loud (or type it): The game meant far more to the Fighting Irish than it did to Louisville.

I’m not trying to trivialize what we now know was a Cardinal loss. It is simply a statement of fact as dictated by the new landscape of college football.

All things being equal, there is no other game on Louisville’s schedule that the Cards could lose by a touchdown, and it has less impact on the team’s biggest preseason goals.

Yes, it was a top 20 opponent, and yes, it was one of the most storied franchises in all of college football, and there was certainly a lot of national focus and reaction to the contest, and Naturally The way it ended still drives us crazy five days later… but tell me which of Louisville’s main goals — aside from winning every game — is no longer attainable.

If U of L wins the rest of its game, it will advance to the College Football Playoff. With a goodbye. If it loses just one game against a strong opponent with a final score, it has a shot at the CFP.

Everything is still up in the air for the Cardinals.

The same goes for Notre Dame, but only because the Fighting Irish handled their business last week and won by seven points despite being seven-point favorites to win.

A surprising stumble in September against Northern Illinois, combined with a schedule that was, in my opinion, much weaker than originally expected, left Notre Dame with its back against the wall this past weekend.

The stakes were exceptionally high and equally uncomplicated.

The win over Louisville, arguably the best remaining team on Notre Dame’s schedule, increased the Fighting Irish’s College Football Playoff chances from 27.3 percent to over 50 percent, according to ESPN’s FPI. With the snap of a finger, an extremely nervous fan base was immediately snapped back into their collective preseason mindset.

“There is no team left on the schedule that we cannot beat. Keep getting better, keep taking care of business and we’ll be where we want to be. The national title is still the goal.”

Now imagine a world where Louisville cleans up “the shit” and we all make the four-hour drive home from South Bend with a smile on our face.

Notre Dame is out of the College Football Playoff race. A season that began with more preseason expectations than ever before for the Irish leaves them knowing they won’t be playing for a national title until the calendar turns to October.

The discussion about the impact would have extended beyond the 2024 season and deep into the overall direction of the program.

Notre Dame fans would have been out for blood. Historically, year three is the year a newly minted Fighting Irish coach either wins or competes for a national title. Marcus Freeman, on the other hand, would have been 22-10, with a handful of home losses deemed inexcusable by the people who make his generous paycheck possible.

Simply put, a loss to Louisville – despite the Cardinals’ status as a more than worthy contender – would have caused a shitstorm.

I’m not saying anything that any green and gold supporter couldn’t have told you a week ago. So what did everyone involved with this football program do? They stepped forward and responded accordingly.

The Louisville game was named Notre Dame’s annual “Green Out” game, a distinction usually given to the most important home game on the schedule. The team’s captains voted during the week to wear their alternate green uniforms, another measure to “break glass only in an emergency.”

After several declarations that the U of L game at Notre Dame Stadium was “the most important in a long time,” fans answered the bell. They were intense, committed and made a difference. As I left the stadium, several Irish fans told me that it had been the most consistently loud the home fans had been at a game in “a long time.”

The players and coaches also rose to the challenge. Their sideline was erratic for four quarters and their follow-up “celebrations” made it clear that they understood the significance of what had just happened.

A week later, Louisville finds itself in front of a bizarre mirror. The Cardinals are 7-point home favorites against a red-hot, under-the-radar squad looking for respect.

Play clean football and beat SMU, and I think everyone – fans, players, etc. – forgets about Notre Dame, refocuses and realizes everything that’s still out there.

Losing not only risks a promising start to the season spiraling out of control, but it also risks people talking about having some “uncomfortable conversations” about the direction of the program. Conversations about the transfer portal and offensive/defensive philosophies and “This is why I wasn’t as excited about Brohm as you were.” None of us would enjoy it as much as talking about taking care of Virginia and then moving on to one of the biggest and most exciting home games in a long time.

Those are the stakes, and it’s up to everyone involved with Louisville football to treat this game against SMU the same way Notre Dame treated us. This task is probably easier said than done.

If you are reading this, you have probably already realized the importance of Saturday. However, for many other people – less crazy fans, 20-year-old players, etc. – it might be difficult to buy “SMU” as a team worthy of such treatment. But the message must be received and absorbed. This is where trainers earn their salary.

SMU was widely viewed as the dark ACC title contender entering the season. All that talk disappeared after the Mustangs played a closer-than-expected game against Nevada in Week Zero and then lost an 18-15 slugfest to a BYU team no one thought was good. Head coach Rhett Lashlee then switched to quarterback, and SMU promptly beat TCU 66-42 and rolled over Florida State 42-16 in their first conference game. Oh, and the BYU team is now 5-0 at No. 17 and no one was closer to beating them than SMU.

The Mustangs can play, and they come to town feeling like they have a chance to put the college football world on notice.

I’m not going to be dramatic about the need for 60,000 people to be there or for everyone to be in their seats at kick-off or anything like that. I’ve been doing this for almost 20 years. I know the situation here. We don’t have to have the same rotten conversation six times a year.

What I will say is that the fans, the Are Anyone who wants to be at the game on Saturday needs to know that they can make a difference.

“But it’s just SMU.”

You wouldn’t believe that there were Notre Dame fans and players last week whose natural instinctive reaction to all the hubbub and urgency was to say to themselves, “Man, but that’s just Louisville?”

Forget the name. Focus on what’s important.

Everyone associated with Notre Dame football has stepped up and fulfilled a top-priority mission when we came to town. A week later, it’s up to all of us to learn a lesson from that blow in South Bend and do the same.