Howard Cross III explains what bounce-back win vs. Duke means for Notre Dame: 'We're still here'

Last week felt longer than usual for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish were on the brink of a monster home victory, only to have their hearts broken at the last second by Chip Trayanum and Ohio State — meaning the game against Duke became that much more important.

It looked like a similar script. Duke took a late lead in the fourth quarter, and Notre Dame had a chance to engineer a game-winning drive. That’s when Sam Hartman stepped up to the plate, leading the 96-yard drive that included a scramble to convert a 4th and 16 to set up Audric Estime’s game-winning touchdown.

Just like that, Notre Dame flipped the script. Howard Cross III was a key part of that as he anchored the defense, and he knows how much that victory over Duke meant for how people talk about the Fighting Irish.

“It means we’re still here,” Cross said on College Football Live on Tuesday. “We’ve got a lot going on, and we’re ready. We looked at last week and we understood we could have done things better, and we made it a point this week to make sure we minimized mistakes, we went out and we can do we’re supposed to do. And that’s what we did.”

Howard Cross III previews Notre Dame vs. Louisville

Cross was instrumental in that victory, totaling a team-high 13 tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss and the game-sealing strip-sack to disrupt Riley Leonard and the Duke offense. It was the type of game Notre Dame needed after a gut punch, especially on the prime time stage with College GameDay in attendance once again.

The Fighting Irish will have to keep things going this week as they once again play under the lights. Notre Dame will head to Louisville for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff, going against Jeff Brohm and the undefeated Cardinals.

They’ll face a familiar opponent at quarterback, too. Jack Plummer has played Notre Dame each of the last two seasons, first at Purdue in 2021 and Cal last year. Cross knows what Plummer brings to the table, as well as how the rest of the roster complements his skills.

That said, he knows the Irish will be ready.

“The quarterback is really good in the pocket,” Cross said. “Even when he gets pressured, he doesn’t seem that really fazed with it. Their offensive line is really good, as well as their running backs. They know where to go. They could find the places where there’s openings and they make the team pay for it. We’re going to make sure we focus on that this week and do we’ve been doing every week.”