The University of Notre Dame has rivalries in the sport of college football. Because the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are independent of a football conference, they play a national schedule, which annually includes historic rival Navy and five games with ACC teams.

Current annual rivalries Navy

The Navy–Notre Dame series was played annually between 1927 and 2019, which was the longest uninterrupted intersectional series in college football. The 2020 game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though the series resumed in 2021.

Before Navy won a 46–44 triple-overtime thriller in 2007, Notre Dame had a 43-game winning streak that was the longest series win streak between two annual opponents in the history of Division I FBS football. Navy's previous win came in 1963, 35–14 with future Heisman Trophy winner and NFL QB Roger Staubach at the helm. Navy had come close to winning on numerous occasions before 2007. They subsequently won again in 2009, 2010, and 2016.

Despite the one-sided result the last few decades, most Notre Dame and Navy fans consider the series a sacred tradition for historical reasons. Both schools have strong football traditions going back to the beginnings of the sport. Notre Dame, like many colleges, faced severe financial difficulties during World War II. The US Navy made Notre Dame a training center and paid enough for usage of the facilities to keep the university afloat. Notre Dame has since extended an open invitation for Navy to play the Fighting Irish in football and considers the game annual repayment on a debt of honor. The series is marked by mutual respect, as evidenced by each team standing at attention during the playing of the other's alma mater after the game, a tradition that started in 2005. Navy's athletic director, on renewing the series through 2016, remarked "...it is of great interest to our collective national audience of Fighting Irish fans, Naval Academy alumni, and the Navy family at large." The series is scheduled to continue indefinitely; renewals are a mere formality.

Shortly before the start of the 2014 season, ESPN polled the head coaches in the so-called "Power Five" football conferences, plus Notre Dame's Brian Kelly, as to whether they would favor a schedule consisting only of "Power 5" opponents. Kelly was adamantly opposed to such a requirement if it meant taking Navy off the schedule, specifically calling a potential loss of the Navy game "a deal-breaker."

The series is a "home and home" series with the schools alternating the home team. Due to the relatively small size of the football stadium in Annapolis, the two teams have never met there. Instead, Navy usually hosts the game at larger facilities such as Baltimore's old Memorial Stadium or current M&T Bank Stadium, FedExField in Landover, Maryland, Veterans Stadium and later Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, or at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. During the 1960s, the Midshipmen hosted the game at John F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia. In 1996 the game was played at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland. The game returned to Dublin in 2012, where the Aviva Stadium hosted the event won by Notre Dame 50–10. The game was also occasionally played at old Cleveland Stadium. The game returned to Ireland in 2023, to make up for the 2020 game cancellation due to COVID-19's travel restrictions. This game was also played at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, won by Notre Dame 42–3.

In years when Navy hosts (even-numbered), it is one of few non-Southeastern Conference games aired on CBS. In years when Notre Dame hosts (odd-numbered), it is carried on NBC as are other Notre Dame home games. As of 2020, the rights to Navy football games have been picked up by ESPN, and it will air subsequent Navy–Notre Dame games.

Historic rivalries Notre Dame has traditionally played Division I FBS football independent from any conference affiliation. In its early years joining a conference, in particular the geographically contiguous Big Ten Conference, might have provided different scheduling opportunities than those that evolved historically. Conferences have periodically approached Notre Dame about joining, including the Big Ten in 1999. Notre Dame has elected to keep its independent status in football, even after joining the ACC for other sports.

Among Notre Dame's historic rivalries are:

Boston College

Boston College is considered to be a rival with Notre Dame based on both institutions' connection to the Roman Catholic Church. The Fighting Irish and Boston College Eagles first met in 1975 in Dan Devine's debut as head coach. They met in the 1983 Liberty Bowl and during the regular season in 1987, then played each other annually from 1992 to 2004. The Fighting Irish and Eagles play for the Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl and Ireland Trophy.

The matchup has become relatively popular and gained several nicknames including the "Holy War", "The Bingo Bowl" and "The Celtic Bowl". In 1993, the Eagles ruined Notre Dame's undefeated season with a 41–39 victory on a 41-yard field goal by David Gordon as time ran out, overshadowing a furious comeback from a 38–17 fourth-quarter deficit by Notre Dame. Notre Dame leads the series 18–9, winning the last ten after the Eagles won the prior six meetings.

The series was scheduled to end after the 2010 season due in part to BC's move to the ACC; however, it was renewed in 2010. With Notre Dame's move to the ACC, they will continue to meet at least semi-regularly. The first meeting after Notre Dame's arrival in the ACC was held at Fenway Park in 2015 as part of Notre Dame's Shamrock Series, with the Irish winning 19–16; the next was in 2017 with Notre Dame winning 49–20. Notre Dame prevailed in 2020 by a score against BC of 45–31.

Michigan

In another rivalry with a bordering state school, Notre Dame and Michigan first played in 1887 in Notre Dame's introduction to football. The Wolverines proceeded to win the first eight contests before losing in 1909, the final game in the series until 1942, when the Wolverines defeated the Fighting Irish.

On October 9, 1943, top-ranked Notre Dame defeated second-ranked Michigan in the first matchup of top teams since the institution of the AP Poll in 1936. The rivalry then froze at 11 games played until 1978, when it launched an evenly matched 15–15–1 run through 2014 (skipping only 1983–84, 1995–96, and 2000–01).

In the aftermath of Notre Dame's 5 game ACC schedule and Michigan's expanded Big 10 schedule, the series was put on a three-year hiatus after the 2014 game, a 31–0 Notre Dame victory. The series resumed at ND in 2018 with the Irish winning 24–17. The following year Michigan routed the Irish 45–14 in Ann Arbor.

The rivalry is heightened not only by location but also the two schools' competitive leadership atop the college football all-time winning percentage board, as well as its competition for the same type of student-athletes. Michigan leads the series 24–18–1.

Michigan State

Notre Dame also has a rivalry with Michigan State University that began in 1897. From 1959 to 2013 the Fighting Irish played Michigan State every year without interruption, except for a two-year hiatus in 1995 and 1996. The next scheduled game is in 2026. The 1966 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game is regarded as one of the Games of the Century and is still talked about to this day because of its ending – a 10–10 tie. Since polls began in 1936, this game marked the 10th matchup that paired the No. 1 team against the No. 2 team, with Notre Dame having been involved in five of these ten games up to that point. Notre Dame leads the series 48–28–1.

Since 1949, the teams competed for the Megaphone Trophy, a trophy introduced by the Alumni Clubs of Notre Dame and Michigan State to be presented to the winner of the game. Notre Dame leads the Megaphone Trophy series 33–27–1.

Pittsburgh

The Fighting Irish's longtime series with the Pittsburgh Panthers, Notre Dame's fifth most played football opponent, began in 1909, and there have been no more than two consecutive seasons without two teams meeting each other except between 1913 and 1929, 1938–42, and 1979–81. Since 1982, the Panthers have remained a relative fixture on the schedule. Notre Dame leads the series 51–21–1.

The longest game in Notre Dame history occurred between the two schools in 2008, when Pitt defeated ND in a record 4 overtimes by a field goal. The 2012 contest saw Notre Dame erase a 20–6 deficit in the fourth quarter and force overtime. The Irish won 29–26 in triple overtime after the Panthers narrowly missed a game-winning field goal in the second overtime.

In 2013 both schools joined the ACC (Pitt for all sports including football, and Notre Dame for non-football sports), which led to the schools playing at least once every three years.

Their ACC matchups began in 2013 in Pittsburgh with a 28–21 Panthers win. The most recent game was a 37–15 Irish win in 2025.

Purdue

This in-state rivalry began in 1896. From 1946 to 2014, the Fighting Irish played Purdue Boilermakers every year without interruption. The series is scheduled to resume on a non-annual basis in 2021 with Notre Dame leading the series 59–26–2. The two teams play for the Shillelagh Trophy, which was introduced in 1957.

The series has been marked by a number of key upsets. Purdue ended Notre Dame's 39-game unbeaten streak in 1950 and posted upsets in 1954, 1967 and 1974. They also hold the record for the most points scored in one game by an opponent in Notre Dame Stadium with 51 in 1960. In addition, Purdue holds records for the most points scored against Notre Dame in the first (24 in 1974) and second quarters (31 in 1960).

On September 28, 1968, No. 1 Purdue defeated No. 2 Notre Dame 37–22 behind the effort of Leroy Keyes, a two-way player for the Boilermakers. It was the eleventh 1 vs 2 game (and the sixth involving Notre Dame).

Stanford

The Fighting Irish have a rivalry with the Stanford Cardinal for the Legends Trophy, a combination of Fighting Irish crystal with California redwood. The two teams first met in the 1925 Rose Bowl, then played each other in 1942 and again in 1963–64.

The modern series began in 1988 when Notre Dame sought out a school to play out west over Thanksgiving weekend during the years that USC plays in Indiana.

The series has been played annually except in 1995–96 and 2020. The rivalry has become competitive in some years, particularly during the tenures of Stanford coaches Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw. Notre Dame and Stanford are regularly ranked in the U.S. News & World Report top 20 best colleges in the United States, and both share a mission to develop student athletes that can excel in the classroom and on the football field. As a result, both schools often compete for similar types of athletes in recruiting.

Notre Dame leads the series 23–14. When the game is played in Palo Alto, it is usually the last game on Stanford's schedule (as has been the case since 1999), one week after the Cardinal plays archrival Cal in The Big Game. All but two of the games in Indiana have been played in October; the only exceptions, in 2010 and 2018, were on the last Saturday of September.

The 2020 game, scheduled to be played at Notre Dame on Saturday October 10, was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with all other non-conference games involving Pac-12 schools. Notre Dame's rivalry games with USC and Navy were also canceled.

USC