If you’re a Notre Dame fan looking for clarity in mid-November, stop. “You need a little bit of chaos because a lot of the teams that are sitting right in front of you have stronger finishes to the season… So, you need an upset or two,” ESPN’s Greg McElroy said. Marcus Freeman got his eighth straight win on Saturday, a clean 37-15 dismantling of No. 22 Pittsburgh. Jeremiyah Love’s highlight-reel touchdown run, followed moments later by a Tae Johnson pick-six, slammed the door on Pitt. With only Syracuse and Stanford left, both limping at 3-7, the Irish look playoff-bound. But what kind of playoff-bound?

As Greg McElroy put it, “They’re very much at the mercy of what happens right in front of them.” Lincoln Riley’s USC vs Dan Lanning’s Oregon. On November 16’s episode on ESPN College Football, he laid out Notre Dame’s rooting guide. “If I’m Notre Dame, I’m going to root very hard for the USC Trojans this week,” he said. “Even though it’s a rival, USC beating Oregon and getting them out of the way would really strengthen the possibility of getting a home playoff game.” The Irish also need Auburn to do the unthinkable and knock off Alabama. And if Oklahoma were to slip against Missouri or LSU, that’s even better. In short, Notre Dame isn’t chasing teams, they’re begging for them to fall over.

This week, Notre Dame caught one huge break. Texas lost. And Saturday nearly delivered a nightmare scenario if SEC dominos had fallen in the wrong direction. Instead, something wild happened. Oklahoma, outgained 406-212, stunned Alabama 23-21 in Tuscaloosa. Now all three, Notre Dame, Alabama, and Oklahoma sit with two losses, but the Tide and Sooners own stronger resume wins.

Meanwhile, Lincoln Riley’s Trojans survived an early 14-0 hole against Iowa to stay inside the top 20. Paired with Navy upsetting USF, Notre Dame suddenly owns wins over two teams with plausible playoff arguments. And that’s where the Irish storyline sharpens into something even more compelling. Because Week 12 wasn’t just about what happened around Marcus Freeman’s team, it was also about who carried them forward.

Jeremiyah Love and the Heisman tightrope

Week 12 landed ESPN’s College GameDay in Pittsburgh for the first time in 20 years, and Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love stole the entire stage. Greg McElroy wasn’t shy about it. “There needs to be a lot of attention paid to Jeremiah Love’s Heisman Trophy campaign,” he said. But the problem is the platform, the schedule, the numbers running backs traditionally need (2,000 yards). The Irish RB, barring something biblical, won’t hit that. But if the award were truly for the most outstanding player? “He deserves a really good long hard look because I think he is absolutely in that conversation,” he added. 

And he is. Because Jeremiyah Love makes at least one Heisman-level play per week now. Against Navy, it was springing off a defender and running 48 yards to daylight. Against Pitt, it was a spin move, hailed as the best since Braxton Miller that left defenders grasping at air. He finished with 23 carries for 147 yards and a score, pushing him to 1,135 yards and 14 touchdowns on the season, plus 274 receiving yards and three more scores. 

Notre Dame is balancing two storylines that rarely coexist. A playoff push guided by the whims of Lincoln Riley, Auburn, and the entire SEC and a running back who keeps producing magic even without the Heisman-friendly schedule or stat load. If the Irish get their chaos, they’re in. And if Jeremiyah Love keeps doing what he’s doing, Marcus Freeman’s boys might just pack two tickets to New York, one for a semifinal, and one for the Heisman ceremony.