Notre Dame has won 3 consecutive games since the season opening losses to Miami and Texas A&M, and with the chaos that has enveloped college football the past 2 weekends, the Fighting Irish remain very much alive for a CFP berth despite the 0-2 start. There is no margin for error, though, and Notre Dame will need another strong defensive performance on Saturday against an explosive Wolfpack offense that ranks second in the ACC in explosive plays of 20+ yards.
SERIES HISTORY
Notre Dame and North Carolina State have met four previous times, with each team winning 2 matchups. These teams met for the first time in the Gator Bowl following the 2002 season, and then didn’t play again until meeting 2 consecutive seasons in 2016 and 2017.
North Carolina has become a major focus of recruiting since Marcus Freeman took over at Notre Dame. There are 5 current players from North Carolina, headlined by DE Bryce Young, while the 2026 recruiting class has 4 commits hailing from the Tar Heel state, including 5-star DE Rodney Dunham. A victory over NC State will continue the recruiting momentum that the Fighting Irish have built in the state.
SERIES RESULTS
2023 – Notre Dame 45, NC State 24 (Away)
2017 – Notre Dame 35, NC State 14 (Home)
2016 – NC State 10, Notre Dame 3 (Away)
2003 - NC State 28, Notre Dame 3 (Gator Bowl following the 2002 season)
NOTABLE GAMES
2023 – Notre Dame 45, NC State 24
Audric Estime exploded for an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play after a long weather delay to extend the Fighting Irish lead to 10-0 and Notre Dame answered an NC State score with 1:16 left in the first half with a 3-play, 78-yard drive in 36 seconds to extend the lead to 17-7 heading into halftime. The Fighting Irish would explode for 28 second half points while a swarming defense forced talented QB Brennan Armstrong into 3 interceptions, turning a close game into a rout. QB Sam Hartman finished the game with 286 passing yards and 4 touchdowns, with 115 yards and 2 scores going to TE Holden Staes, while Estime pounded the Wolfpack for 134 yards and 2 scores on the ground. Safety Xavier Watts also had the first breakout performance of his career, highlighted by a diving interception. Notre Dame would blow out Central Michigan the following week to improve to 4-0 before the heartbreaking loss to Ohio State derailed the 2023 season.
2017 – Notre Dame 35, NC State 14
Fresh off a 49-14 stomping of USC, Notre Dame hosted #14 NC State, winners of 6 games in a row and boasting future first-round pick Bradley Chubb anchoring a stout defensive front. After a slow start that saw NC State take a 7-0 lead on a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown, Notre Dame’s dominant offensive line took the game over. Josh Adams continued his Heisman-level start to the season with 202 yards rushing and a TD, and QB Brandon Wimbush accounted for 3 TDs of his own. All in all, the Irish offense piled up 318 yards on the ground. The defense pitched in as well, holding NC State to just 50 yards rushing and Julian Love returned an interception for a score on the first drive of the second half to extend the lead to 28-14.
The Irish would knock off Wake Forest the following week before a 41-8 road loss at Miami derailed the season, which ended in a Capitol One Bowl victory over LSU.
2016 – NC State 10, Notre Dame 3
In arguably the most frustrating result of the unbelievably frustrating 2016 season, Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame team fell to 2-4 on the season in a 10-3 loss played as Hurricane Matthew was ravaging North Carolina. Kelly somehow believed that throwing the ball 26 times in a hurricane was a winning strategy – hard to believe when the Irish had enough trouble with even a shotgun snap. The Irish managed just 54 yards passing, 59 yards rushing, and surrendered a fourth quarter blocked punt that NC State returned for the game-winning touchdown.
The Irish went on to lose the following week 17-10 against Stanford en route to an embarrassing 4-8 finish.
2003 - NC State 28, Notre Dame 3
The Irish took on a Phillip Rivers-led NC State team in the Gator Bowl following the 2002 season, Tyrone Willingham’s first at the helm in South Bend. Both Notre Dame and NC State had been undefeated and ranked in the top-10 earlier in the season, but losses down the stretch took some of the luster off the game. Notre Dame took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but Rivers and the Wolfpack rallied with 21 unanswered points in the second quarter. Ultimately, the Irish offense had no answer and was unable to overcome 3 interceptions, 9 penalties, and an injury to Carlyle Holiday early in the game. That sloppiness was unfortunately a harbinger of things to come as the Willingham era progressed.
Story written by Andrew McDonough
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