Notre Dame travels to Miami to open the 2025 season on Sunday night in South Florida. Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish came tantalizingly close to a national title last season and look to take the first step toward capturing the program’s first national title since 1988 against the Hurricanes.

No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 10 Miami are facing off the first time since 2017 in a Sunday evening spotlight game that will shape the narratives surrounding two national brands with College Football Playoff aspirations. The Fighting Irish will be seeking their first road victory over the Hurricanes since 1977.

The 2025 college football season is officially here, ushered in by Saturday’s Big 12 season-opening showdown in Dublin, where No. 22 Iowa State escaped Ireland with a 24-21 upset of No. 17 Kansas State.

The two teams stopped playing each other regularly after the 1990 season. They went 20 years without playing before they met again in the 2010 Sun Bowl, a game Notre Dame won 33 to 17.

Hurricanes linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, a Miami native and Miami Central alumnus, remembers watching that game at home. Trajan Bandy’s second-quarter interception, which he returned to 65 yards for a touchdown to put Miami up 27-0 at halftime, still plays clear in his mind.