Last season, Notre Dame’s season-opening loss to Miami cost the Irish big, knocking them out of the CFP race. This season, the Irish are on a revenge tour, and CB Leonard Moore isn’t hiding the weight of the November 7, 2026, home game against Miami. He also highlighted QB CJ Carr’s role in keeping the team competitive, even in practice, where Carr’s trash talk and antics have become fuel, just like he did during that Miami loss until the final seconds.

“I’m always impressed with CJ,” said Moore to On3 this week, as reported by Pete Nakos. “I thought I talked to him in the locker room, and even during practice, I feel like the whole defense is talking to him, but it’s CJ talking trash against the whole defense. At the end of the day, he’ll do misdirection handoffs, running for easy touchdowns, pointing at everybody, telling us we’re trash.”

“It’s a competitive spirit. We are all boys at the end of the day, so what’s said on the field ultimately is said in the competitive spirit,” added Moore.

Carr’s three-TD performance, including a 7-yard rushing TD to tie it 24-24 and a final 65-yard scoring drive, showcased his legs under pressure, though ND’s defense (312 yards allowed) couldn’t finish. But the Irish failed to capitalize consistently in the red zone, resulting in a three-point loss to the Hurricanes.

The 27-24 Miami loss and 41-40 Texas A&M defeat left ND 0-2. Defensive backs, especially Moore, shouldered blame, as Miami QB Carson Beck completed 20 of 30 passes with zero INTs.

“That’s what used to keep me up at night, just thinking about maybe one or two plays in that game that I could’ve made that would’ve changed the course of the season,” said Moore to ESPN’s Heather Dinich in an April 9 interview. “That and the Texas A&M game, just as a DB room, we put that all on us.”

This season, nine returners, including All-American CB Leonard Moore, CB Christian Gray, safety Adon Shuler, and Tae Johnson, strengthen ND’s defense. With these talents, Moore is confident about Notre Dame’s CFP appearance in 2026 after last season’s snub despite a 10-game winning streak.

“By the time we get into the season, I’ll probably have some pent-up anger from last season. We’ll be ready for them, but most of all, we’ll be ready for Game 1,” said Leonard Moore to On3. While the main goal is to reach the CFP, beating Miami is something every Fighting Irish is preparing for.

Notre Dame is ready to fight a tough battle

Following a 0-2 start in 2025, Notre Dame climbed back and finished the regular season with a 10-2 record. But that loss to Miami still hurt QB CJ Carr. The Irish offense managed just 93 rushing yards on 28 carries. Although the Fighting Irish were aggressive in the second half of the game against Miami, turnovers and deflections handed them a loss.

“Watching that tape, it was probably the worst first half of football our offense played all year, and to be in that game in the end and the second half we put together was special,” said Carr to ESPN. “It’s hard to watch. There was some resilience shown in that game that’s going to help us this year. We’re excited for them to come into town and see what this team’s got.”

Carr is entering his second season with Notre Dame as a starter, and the QB is ready for the home game against Miami. Even the team has trust in Carr’s capability. “The job he did last year was phenomenal,” said QB coach Gino Guidugli in an interview with Irish Sports. “We need CJ this year just to be a great leader. If he can perform the same way he did last year, great. He doesn’t need to do something above and beyond what he was doing last year.”

But the Irish QB takes last season’s mistakes as motivation to move forward in the 2026 season.

“You can sulk, and you can blame, and you can point the finger, or you can say, ‘Alright, we got punched in the face, we’ve got to get back up,'” said Carr to ESPN. “We’ve got to go back to work. We’ve got a new team coming in. We’re going to be really good. We have draft picks all over the field. We have a chance to be really special.”