Provo • BYU’s home football game with Notre Dame has been circled by most fans since last December when the two teams announced a home-and-home series, and for at least one ESPN broadcaster, the Oct. 17 date has been eyed for at least a month.
“I think there’s a really good chance we’ll be at BYU (for ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’),” veteran broadcaster Rece Davis said on a podcast Sept. 28. “I’m just looking at the schedule, and it might be the best game of the weekend and both might still be undefeated. And if they are, even on a very competitive Saturday, it will certainly be a contender.”
Fast-forward a few weeks, and Davis’ prognostication became a reality when “GameDay” announced a return to Provo for the first time in 17 years last Saturday.
The decision to bring “College GameDay” to BYU was made after Friday night’s 24-10 win over Iowa State and Notre Dame’s 58-7 rout at Stanford a day later.
“We evaluate the upcoming slate of games and storylines every week,” ESPN spokesperson Courtney Clawson told The Salt Lake Tribune.
“Each week, site selections are typically made either Saturday night or Sunday morning based on the most compelling matchup and storylines.”
Of course, the foundation for the network’s visit was laid much earlier.
“This Notre Dame-BYU game has generated significant interest since it was scheduled,” said Clawson, noting Davis’ podcast with colleagues Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel. “As college football’s premier pregame show, College GameDay’s goal is always to be at the biggest games with the most compelling storylines each week. Our whole team is excited to return to Provo this weekend for the first time since 2009.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU Cougars wide receiver Kyler Kasper (3) celebrates a touchdown as BYU hosts Arizona, NCAA football in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.
Saturday’s BYU game has the potential to be the biggest home game in program history. It’s the first-ever matchup between two top-10 teams in Provo, and the highest-ranked opponent to come to LaVell Edwards Stadium since Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and then-No. 1 USC came in 2004.
It also has implications for the regular and postseason — for both teams.
The Irish (6-0) have eyes on a College Football Playoff berth. But so do the eighth-ranked Cougars (5-0, 3-0 Big 12).
“For us, we need to be at our best,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “I think these games get the sense of urgency up a little quicker.”
Sitake knows the magnitude of the game, the pageantry of the Irish and the historic tradition of the program built by Knute Rockne, Lou Holtz and (most recently) Marcus Freeman.
When Notre Dame reached out to BYU after the Fighting Irish’s historic series with USC was put on temporary hiatus, Sitake didn’t want to waste the opportunity.
“It would be crazy for us to turn them down,” he said Monday. “When they reached out and wanted a series, I thought it was a huge opportunity for us to play them.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) LaVell Edwards Stadium as BYU hosts Arizona, NCAA football in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.
BYU and Notre Dame will meet for the 10th time in a series that dates back to 1992, with the Irish winning seven of the first nine. That includes a 28-20 win in 2022 in Las Vegas as part of Notre Dame’s Shamrock Series that replaced a previously scheduled game in Provo.
“I’d like to think that we’re different as a program and a team now than we were in that game,” Sitake said. “But so is Notre Dame.”
The two programs share more than their 10-game history, too, as two of the most prominent faith-based universities that play major college football in the country.
In 1923, then-BYU athletic director E.L. Roberts asked Rockne to come to Provo for a coaching seminar as the Cougars were still trying to get their young program off the ground.
Rockne spent several weeks instructing then-head coach Alvin Twitchell and other staffers on the game.
Now, over 100 years later, BYU and Notre Dame will meet in a prime-time matchup with the college football world watching.
“We’re looking forward to an exciting show on Saturday,” Clawson said.
