Notre Dame football adds Stanford, Kent State to future Fighting Irish schedules

Notre Dame’s rivalry with one particular team from the Golden State is on hiatus, but the Fighting Irish patched up future plans with another on Wednesday. Notre Dame will continue to play Stanford in 2027 and 2028, and the Irish added a 2027 game against Kent State to next year’s schedule as well.

The Irish will be at Stanford on Nov. 27, 2027. The Cardinal come back to South Bend on Oct. 14, 2028. Kent State makes a trip to Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 2, 2027.

Notre Dame has 11 of its 12 regular season opponents figured out for 2027 now. Stanford and Kent State join Purdue, Michigan State, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Navy and BYU.

As for 2028, Notre Dame is currently signed up to play Stanford, Texas, Arkansas, Purdue, Clemson, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Navy, Boston College, Miami and Pitt. That also comes out to 11 of 12 opponents etched in stone.

Notre Dame’s rivalry with Stanford was thought to be in jeopardy going forward for some of the same reasons the Irish are no longer playing the USC Trojans annually. The Cardinal are in a conference that forces them to travel long distance for regular league games. Making a trek to South Bend every other year is a lot to throw on top of already having to go miles and miles east for Big Ten games, in USC’s case, and ACC games in Stanford’s situation.

Alas, perhaps because of less innate friction between the two parties, Notre Dame and Stanford were still able to strike a deal. The news of their continued rivalry comes just over a week after it became known the Irish and Trojans are once again talking about setting up future matchups in football. As of now, there are not any plans as concrete as what Notre Dame announced Wednesday with Stanford and Kent State — actual kickoff announcements.

Notre Dame is 25-14 all time against Stanford. The Irish have won the last three games and six of the last seven. The Irish have never faced the Kent State Golden Flashes, meanwhile, and it will be a memorable meeting once they’re on the field for the first time together. The late, great, legendary former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz graduated from Kent State. Current Irish head coach Marcus Freeman was an assistant there from 2011-12.