Notre Dame schedules 12th game in 2025: Irish to face Stanford in rivalry week
After much speculation, the Notre Dame-Stanford rivalry will live on for at least one more season. The Irish and Cardinal will meet in the battle for the Legends Trophy on Nov. 29.
The game will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Notre Dame-Stanford matchup, which occurred at The Rose Bowl. Knute Rockne’s team won that game, 27-10, and the Irish hold a 23-14 lead in the rivalry with five wins in their past six tries.
It also represents the 12th and final game on Notre Dame’s docket for this coming season, completing the 2025 regular-season schedule.
The Irish and Cardinal’s deal to face each other every year expired after the 2024 season. The conundrum of whether to continue the series coincided with Stanford’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference, which was announced in August 2023 and officially happened in July 2024.
Notably, then-Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick was a major proponent of bringing the Cardinal — alongside California and SMU — to the ACC after the demise of the Pac-12.
Stanford stunned the Irish in the middle of the 2022 season, when a Cardinal team that would finish 3-9 entered Notre Dame Stadium and left with a 16-14 win. Aside from that hiccup, though, the Legends Trophy series has been all Irish since 2016.
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Most recently, Notre Dame beat Stanford 49-7 in the fourth installment of what would eventually be a 13-game winning streak. Coming off a bye, the Irish went down 7-0 in the first quarter but roared back with 49 unanswered points. Seven different players in blue-and-gold uniforms scored touchdowns: Riley Leonard, Jayden Thomas, Kris Mitchell, Jadarian Price, Jeremiyah Love, Eli Raridon and Aneyas Williams, respectively.
The Cardinal made their run in the 2010s, winning seven of nine games against the Irish at one point (included a vacated win in 2012).
Notre Dame first faced Stanford in 1925, but the annual series did not begin until 1988. The Irish and Cardinal have butted heads every season since then, with three exceptions: 1995-96 and 2020, the latter being due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Monday night’s announcement ensures the series will reach a 38th installment after all.
2025 Notre Dame football schedule
• Aug. 31: at Miami (7:30 p.m. ET)
• 9/13: Texas A&M
• 9/20: Purdue
• 9/27: at Arkansas
• 10/4: Boise State
• 10/11: NC State
• 10/18: USC
• 11/1: at Boston College
• 11/8: Navy
• 11/15: at Pitt
• 11/22: Syracuse
• 11/29: at Stanford
