Saturday night's showdown between the No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and No. 8 BYU Cougars in Provo, Utah has serious College Football Playoff stakes. Both teams enter undefeated, and a victory for either would be a big boost to the winner's CFP resume. It's the first ever Top-10 matchup between these two schools in Provo, as well.  

This game also has a religious angle, as well. Notre Dame is a Catholic university, and BYU is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormon Church. Thus, the series is oftentimes dubbed as "Catholics vs. Mormons" 

Saturday night's game also marks the first time Notre Dame will play at BYU since the last meeting in 2004. 

That game resulted in a 20-17 BYU victory. Although these two schools agreed to play two games at BYU in 2010, the 2026 meeting is the first time the two teams are playing in Provo. 

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The last time Notre Dame played at BYU

The last time these two played at BYU was in 2004, during the very first week of the college football season. BYU won that game 20-17. Notre Dame trailed 13-3 at halftime, and BYU took a 20-3 lead midway through the third quarter. 

The Fighting Irish made it interesting in the fourth quarter, as a Brady Quinn 54-yard touchdown pass to Rhema McKnight and a 38-yard pick-six off BYU quarterback Matt Berry, who replaced starter John Beck in the first half, made it a three-point game. 

It looked like Notre Dame would get the ball back with less than two minutes left late in the fourth quarter. But Cougar QB Berry hit Todd Watkins on a 3rd-and-8 from BYU's 25 to keep the drive going and run out the clock. 

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Notre Dame's refusal to play in Provo

Although Notre Dame and BYU were set to play two games in Provo, as announced in 2010, the Fighting Irish struggled to make it to BYU. Since the announcement, they played two games in South Bend in 2012 and 2013, both ND victories, although they were later vacated due to academic misconduct. 

In 2022, the two played at a neutral site in Las Vegas, which resulted in a 28-20 ND victory. Part of Notre Dame's challenge in playing at BYU was the Irish's commitment to preserving traditional rivalries as an independent school. 

Then, fresh off a College Football Playoff snub last season, the Irish declined an invitation to play against BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. BYU instead played Georgia Tech, winning 25-21 while a bitter Notre Dame sat out the postseason in protest.

Although some are scheduled to be renewed down the line, Notre Dame historically has traditional rivalries with Stanford, USC and Navy. In addition to the Irish playing five ACC games each and every year, it's a logistical challenge for ND to travel to BYU, despite some Cougar fans suggesting ND is scared to play in Provo. 

ND playing at BYU is also partially helped by the Irish pausing its rivalry with USC. The two longtime rivals, who have played mostly interrupted from 1926-2025, couldn't reach an agreement to play this year.  The series is now temporarily paused, set to resume in 2030.

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Notre Dame vs. BYU series history 

The Irish hold a 5-2 all-time lead in the series, with BYU's lone second victory coming in 1994 in South Bend. The Cougars are 14-1 in their last 15 home games, and 5-0 for a third straight season for the first time in school history.  

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