It was probably the biggest win for Notre Dame football in the last three years. It was, at least, the best a Notre Dame football team has looked in that span.

The domination of Clemson by the Irish on both sides of the ball last week, was long overdue for ND. The 35-14 final really doesn’t show how much ND dominated the Tigers. I was most impressed by the defensive effort in keeping in check one of the most explosive offenses in the country. The No. 4 Tigers have a balanced attack, admittedly, learning towards the pass, but one that also features a solid run game. The ND defense shut both down in gaining the important victory to move to 6-3 on the season and a chance to go to Los Angeles in three weeks at 8-3 to face the USC Trojans.

Another blocked punt by the Irish that led directly to a touchdown set the tone for the entire game. After that ND just got better and better as the game went on.

The Irish now have six wins in the last seven weeks, including four victories over teams that were ranked when ND played them. The win helped ND get back into the Top 25, at No. 20. It was also another win over an ACC team in a regular season setting - the 27th straight for the Irish. The last time ND lost to an ACC team was in 2017.

Offensively, the big Irish line opened holes again for Logan Diggs, Audric Estime and Chris Tyree. Diggs had 114 yards on 17 carries, Estime 104 yards and a score on 18 carries, and Tyree had 26 yards on seven carries. Quarterback Drew Pyne again did not have to throw the ball much because the running game was clicking. He finished with 9 of 17 passing for 85 yards.

Now, of course, ND must be up to the task today against Navy, which has a history of giving the Irish trouble with its triple-option attack. The Irish will also have to guard against an emotional let down coming off the big win over Clemson.

ND faces a Navy team that enters with a 3-6 record but has the No. 9 rushing defense in the country, allowing just 236.9 yards per game. On the other hand, Navy is near the bottom of the statistics nationally in pass defense.

The Navy wins have been over East Carolina, 23-20; Tulsa, 51-21; and Temple, 27-20. The losses have been to Delaware, 14-7; Memphis, 37-13; Air Force, 13-10; SMU, 40-34; Houston, 38-20; and Cincinnati, 20-10.

Navy’s top rusher is Daba Fofana with 565 yards on 140 carries and five TDs. The team’s second leading rusher, quarterback Tai Lavataii was injured in the Cincinnati game and is lost for the rest of the season. His replacement is Xavier Arline, who is also is adept at running the option. Maasai Maynor, who is more of a passer than Arline, could also see action under center.

ND leads the series, 78-13-1.

The game will be played at the home of the Baltimore Ravens with a noon air time and 12:10 p.m. kickoff. ABC will televise it nationally.

IRISH NOTES ... Pyne finished with 21 yards rushing on four carries. ND finished with 263 yards rushing for the game for a 5.6 per carry average, Receiving was led by Michael Mayer with four catches for 44 yards and one score and Jaden Thomas with three catches for 15 yards. Blake Grupe missed his only field goal attempt of 42 yards. Defensively, JD Bertrand had 12 tackles for his best game to date. He was followed by Benjamin Morrison with seven tackles. Morrison also had two interceptions - one for 96 yards and a TD ... The win last week put a hold on all the talk about the Irish play better away than at home. Up until last week that was very true ... With the Clemson win, ND jumped to No. 20 in the College Football Playoff poll ... ND is favored by 15.5 points today ... Freeman - the defensive coordinator when the Irish played Navy last year - was successful is slowing the Midshipmen triple option ... It was an exciting scene to watch last week when the ND student body and fans rushed the field after the win. NBC did a wonderful job in showing the celebration ... I believe the Irish will be a little flat today due to the high they were on last week. But I do believe they will also realize the win over Clemson gives them a great shot at finishing off the season strong. ND knows it has an opportunity to continue to get better and get some national recognition. A struggle today would be a very big negative for the team. In my preseason picks I have the Irish on top today. The Irish should win number seven today and hopefully have a chance to get some playing time for the younger members of the team.