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Duncan Hall leads donor drive

A student (center) volunteers for the Kary Project, a bone marrow registration drive in LaFortune

can Hall and the National Marrow Donor Program, which was started to support Karyanne Duncan,

By SOPHIA TRAN Staff Writer

This past week, Duncan Hall organized their annual Kary Project, a four-day swab drive partnered with the National Marrow Donor Program’s BeTheMatch for bone marrow donor registrations. BeTheMatch is a nonprofit organization operating a registry for bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants.

When Duncan Hall’s benefactor, Karyanne Duncan, started bone marrow cancer treatment in 2021, the drive was started by Duncan Hall to rally support for her. This year, the drive was organized by Duncan Hall’s Kary Project commissioners, junior Christian Gabriel El Azar and sophomore Riley Mahoney.

For Mahoney, his first spark of inspiration to join the Kary Project was a special shirt.

“Our rector always wears a ‘Keep Calm and Kary On’ shirt,” Mahoney said. “He was always a big fan of it, and he talked about how

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[Duncan] loved this project. I wanted to be a part of that.”

In addition to Mahoney, Duncan Hall had about 20 different volunteers for the drive, and some Duncan Hall residents even took multiple shifts over the course of three days in LaFortune as well as Duncan Student Center. Mahoney noted the well-balanced distribution of grade levels amongst the volunteers, and he hopes that Duncan Hall can someday formalize collaborations with other dorms to increase volunteer numbers.

One of the volunteers, sophomore Chaz Frizzell shared about his own inspiration for registering as a donor.

“I joined because it’s a big Duncan event every year, but I followed through with the donation because it’s a really powerful experience to get to save somebody’s life,” he said.

Alongside the Kary Project’s goal to increase volunteer numbers, El Azar also shared Duncan Hall’s

Professor develops farm

By MADYSON CASIANO Staff Writer

Christopher Cobb, professor of English literature and director of the Sustainable Farm at Saint Mary’s College, has lived an academic career full of seemingly contrasting interests. Throughout his career, from studying at Swarthmore College and Yale University to teaching at North Carolina University and currently Saint Mary’s College, Cobb has found ways to

integrate these interests into avenues of learning for students.

Cobb attended the liberal arts institution Swarthmore College for his undergraduate studies. When deliberating his degree, Cobb took a step away from literature for a semester.

“I found I missed doing it, so I said ‘Okay, that’s what I should major in,’” Cobb said.

hopes to steadily increase donor entries. Starting from 70 entries in 2021, the drive registrations have since expanded to 150 entries and reached a peak of 300 entries in 2023. El Azar expressed his hope to maintain that goal of 300 entries this year and to continually increase the number of registrations.

“Because of what happened with [Duncan], we decided to contribute to the lack of the National Registry by making sure that we can expand it,” El Azar stated.

“That’s [the] essential goal of the Kary Project, because we want to tap into populations that haven’t been tapped into and just show our ‘thank you’ and our gratitude for how the Duncan family has given us such a good and beautiful place to live in.”

El Azar and his team have worked hard to spread more awareness over the swab drive while also eradicating stigma surrounding donations. In addition to registering donors, El Azar and the volunteers also help answer

common questions about donation policies.

“[The stigma] is essentially that people think that if they sign up, then that means they’re one hundred percent going to get matched, and then they’re one hundred percent going to have to donate,” El Azar explained. “But both of those facts are just wrong. It’s not a one hundred percent chance that you’re going to get matched. The chances are on the lower end, and even [if you get matched], you still have the complete right to say no.”

Since the inception of the Kary Project, three donors have matched and undergone the next stage of testing to become a bone marrow donor. One of those three individuals is junior Patrick Dolan, a Duncan Hall resident who was initially surprised to receive the BeTheMatch email that prompted a match. Although Dolan was unfamiliar with the donation procedure at first, he emphasized the strong

Senate receives union address

By GRACE TADAJWESKI Associate News Editor

During Wednesday’s Notre Dame student senate meeting, student body president Dawson Kiser delivered a state of the union address and a new order on committee names was passed. Student body vice president Maeve Miller began with an executive announcement about two events on Thursday, Nov. 21. Miller announced “safe space” sign tabling would take place in

Duncan Student Center beginning at 12:30 p.m. and a co-sponsored global community night would be open to all starting at 6:30 p.m. on the second floor of the LaFortune Student Center.

Miller then called upon Kiser to address the student senate.

“To the student senate of the University of Notre Dame du Lac, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude and congratulations for the tireless

SOPHIA TRAN | The Observer

Student Center sponsored by Dun-

Duncan Hall’s benefactor.

ND honors Native American Heritage Month

By AREZO KARIMI

News Writer

Each November, Native American Heritage Month highlights the importance of incorporating Native American history, culture and art into the nation’s collective dialogue. This year, ancestry and artistry, an initiative by Multicultural Student Programs and Services (MSPS) in collaboration with the Native American Student Association (NASAND), observed the dedicated month with a variety of events.

Students celebrated with activities such as exploring Native American courses offered at Notre Dame, painting Native American landscapes and enjoying traditional foods such as frybread and Pueblo cookies. These events

Farm

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He said took an additional two minors in history and theater.

Additional minors in history and theater later transpired into his research in Shakespearean performance.

“Academic life is pretty engrossing, so I have never felt that I had the time to get involved in theater production personally … but I integrate work with theater into my teaching in a lot of different ways.” Cobb said. “So it’s not as if I have just left the theater behind me, but the way I’m involved is different than it was when I was in high school and college. So I’ve become, in that sense, a professional watcher of theater.”

Following Swarthmore, Cobb earned a master’s degree and two doctoral degrees at Yale University. In 1997, he had the opportunity to propose and teach a special topic in a college seminar, which was considered unconventional at the time of his proposal–an academic study of J.R.R Tolkien and modern fantasy.

“There was a tremendous

Senate

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

this semester,” Kiser said. “As I said in April, you as the Senate, have the great privilege to drive change that elevates the student experience and cater to our needs. So thank you for your efforts.”

Kiser acknowledged the strength of the “state of the union” and the need to celebrate the work various of the branches of student government. Kiser encouraged listeners to think

provided an opportunity for reflection and discussion.

Senior Tori Van Arsdale, president of NASAND and a senior fellow for MSPS, explained observing Native American Heritage Month means a lot to her in terms of raising awareness about Native issues.

“There’s often negative discourse surrounding Native American issues, focusing on disparities. While we do advocate for ourselves in these areas, this month is also about celebrating our heritage through events like beading circles, making frybread, and raising awareness about Native American issues through educational programs,” she said.

For many students, this month is a time to bring Native stories to the forefront. Lily Church, a sophomore studying biology and a member

prejudice within the academy against what we would now call genre fiction. Science-fiction, fantasy, mystery … none of those things were treated as being suitable subjects for academic inquiry,” he said. However, Cobb believed it deserved a spot. “I had 120 students apply for the 20 spaces in the class. So I knew there was an interest.”

Cobb said his teaching of Tolkien had to “overcome that prejudice.” He continued to teach his class and watch as the culture shifted.

“27 years later, there are journals of Tolkien studies. There’s lots of Tolkien scholarship being written, books being published on Tolkien,” Cobb elaborated.

Cobb said he continues to teach this course at Saint Mary’s.

“The way in which the scholarly landscape around this class that I’ve been teaching has changed over time. It has been really remarkable to see,” he said.

Later in his graduate studies, Cobb discovered his interest in environmental studies. He explained how he didn’t have the opportunity to study environmentalism

about how the student body could improve their charitability and “bridge building.”

Kiser gave a lengthy acknowledgement of the 2024-25 academic year developments in student government. His list included raising awareness about the Red Zone, hosting the first-ever Dorm Day, improving campus facilities such as water quality, increasing awareness about microphone use in large classrooms and giving a presentation on “fostering a shared sense of belonging” to the Board of Trustees.

of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, explained it's more than dedicating a month for observance.

“Native American History Month is about elevating Native stories and cultures in our collective social awareness,” Church said. “It’s not just about dedicating one month to Native history and justice but serving as a reminder that Natives are still here — celebrating their heritage and enriching their communities, both tribal and beyond, with vibrant traditions.”

Despite being the smallest cultural group on campus, with Native American students comprising just 0.02% of Notre Dame’s student population according to the 20232024 Common Date Set, they form a tight-knit and supportive community.

in college.

“There wasn’t an environmental studies program at Swarthmore … I don’t think any of the classes of the kind that I teach now were available.”

After graduating Yale University, Cobb learned his interest in environmental studies could be taken to the academic level.

“I began to find, on the one hand, intellectual encouragement, and on the other hand, opportunities to do things that brought my teaching into an engagement with my environmental interests. And that was a very gradual process that started by thinking, just by thinking,” Cobb said.

Before teaching at Saint Mary’s, Cobb taught at North Carolina State University for six years where he created a literature of agriculture course, believing he found an absence in the curriculum he sought to fill.

“I looked around and didn’t see that the English department or the college of arts and social sciences was doing anything to acknowledge that there was an agricultural school. So I developed [the literature of agriculture]

Kiser asked listeners to reflect on Fr. Edward Sorin’s words in which he stated Notre Dame would be a powerful means for good.

“May we, through our positions of leadership, continue to challenge Notre Dame to more fully make it the powerful means for good we know it all can be,” he said.

Kiser concluded his address by reminding listeners of his support for them and to “stay grounded in Jesus Christ.”

A new order on name changes of the student government

“While our numbers are small, we work hard to uplift Native students on campus and welcome non-Native students to join us in learning and celebrating,” Van Arsdale said.

As a transfer student, Van Arsdale found a home away from home through NASAND, where she connected with peers who shared her cultural background and understood her experiences.

“It was amazing to meet others who were like me — people who got my inside jokes about being Native American,” she said, reflecting on the sense of belonging and support she discovered within the group.

Faculty support has also played a crucial role in these efforts. Ashlee Bird, assistant professor of American Studies and NASAND’s faculty advisor, expressed gratitude for

course,” Cobb said. This process would be carried on in Cobb’s work at Saint Mary’s College.

Cobb then continued his work in English and environmental studies at the College.

“When I came to Saint Mary’s, there wasn’t, at the time, any kind of need for a course on the literature of agriculture. And so, I developed the environmental literature course,” he said.

From the course onward, he would support development of the environmental studies minor and major and later started the Sustainable Farm, an environmentallyaware organization which supports the greater South Bend area in partnership with the Center for Faith, Action and Ministry.

Cobb explained the key components to the farm are the interning and volunteer opportunities for Saint Mary’s students. The organization sponsors inhouse paid internships at the College. Titled as a field supervisor, students work on “building educational materials for the farm, working on the farm’s educational mission, [and] leading tours for classes coming out to the

ethics commission and elections committee to ethics and elections councils was proposed and moved from general orders into questioning. Keenan Hall senator Matthew Amante asked judicial council president Hunter Brooke a clarifying question about the order, inquiring if there would be more than nominal changes to the groups.

Brooke answered that the jurisdiction of the committees would not be altered and affirmed the substantive change was the renaming of the two

the University’s commitment to Native American initiatives.

“I appreciate the efforts of the University of Notre Dame, the American Studies department, the Raclin Murphy Museum and everyone else who supports Native American programs,” Bird said.

This month, the Raclin Murphy Museum also celebrated by hosting an artist symposium featuring panel discussions with tattoo artists, musicians and other Native artists.

Looking to the future, Bird hopes more students will enroll in Native American studies courses, eventually leading to the creation of a Native American studies minor at Notre Dame.

Contact Arezo Karimi at akarimi2@nd.edu

farm.”

As an aspect of student interactiveness, academic experiential learning courses offered at the College allow students to commit hours of volunteering at the farm.

“The fundamental reason that we have a sustainable farm at Saint Mary’s College is to have a site that provides opportunities for experiential learning and sustainability,” Cobb said.

In future aspirations, “[the farm is] looking at establishing a medicinal garden that may be a resource to the nursing program.” Cobb explained this be would be in a similar vein to the Academic Experiential Learning partnerships.

When prompted for his advice to students of very many interests such as himself, Cobb said “Don’t think that just because you’re not pursuing an interest at the moment that it’s gone forever. And [do not] feel you have to always be hyper specialized, having broad interests opens up a lot of opportunities and can enable you to put things together in useful ways.”

Contact Madyson Casiano at mcasiano01@saintmarys.edu

groups. The senate moved into debate shortly after.

“I think the domains as they stand are kind of confusing to people, I got tripped up on them like 30 seconds ago, so I think standardization will just help everyone who is engaged with … these body to have a better idea of what they are and what they do,” Brooke said.

After two friendly amendments and one question, the order passed.

Contact Grace Tadajweski at gtadajwe@nd.edu

Saint Mary’s clubs offer new merch

By BERHAN HAGEZOM News Writer

Various organizations and societies at Saint Mary’s College have been selling merchandise for students to purchase, including the Student Nurses Association (SNA), the Residence Hall Association (RHA) and Asian-American Pacific Islander Club (AAPI Club). These organizations have designed their own unique merch to help fund initiatives, programming and materials.

SNA

SNA has released schoolwide sweatpants and hoodies until Friday. They look forward to creating more “educational and social opportunities” within the club for students to have a diverse range of experiences within healthcare, according to an email from the club.

As their first merch release of the year, they wanted to create, “fun merch for the students of Saint Mary's College and raise money for our club,” SNA said in their email. The front of the sweatshirt reads “Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana,” in blue and white lettering, with the front of the sweatpants reading “SMC” on top of a white French cross.

SNA is also hosting a food drive until Wednesday with Goshen College and Bethel University where students have the opportunity to donate to the local community.

“We have a food drive in collaboration with Goshen College and Bethel University that ends on Nov. 27. Students can bring any canned and/or non-perishable food items they have and place them in the designated box near the nursing front desk in Regina Hall. These donations will go straight to the South Bend community,” the email stated.

RHA

RHA will be selling hoodies and sweatpants from Nov. 14 to Dec. 2 at 9 a.m. in order to “help raise funds for hall improvements for future all school events,” as mentioned on CORQ and BelleTower. The front of the sweatshirt includes

Saint Mary’s longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates, with the back portion displaying the RHA logo.

Junior Kate Hayes, the fundraising chair of RHA, explained the inspiration behind the design.

“When I first began thinking of what to include in this merch sale, I was trying to think of unique ways to represent Saint Mary's. Therefore, I thought of the longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates as that unique way. Additionally, if someone were to ask you what those coordinates stand for, you can respond saying that it represents the place nearest and dearest to you, Saint Mary's College,”

Hayes said.

AAPI

As a brand new club on campus, the AAPI club also wanted to represent the College through their crewnecks. Junior Avery Lazaro, president of the AAPI club, described what made them choose to embroider LeMans Hall on their apparel.

“We decided to sell Saint Mary’s merch in order to appeal to the majority, not just the students involved with the club. In doing so, we would be able to get a larger audience to purchase the crewnecks we are selling. We got the inspiration for our design from TikTok," Lazaro said. "We saw that other schools had one of their iconic buildings embroidered on a crew neck along with the name of their school and thought the idea was super cute. We decided to make one for Saint Mary’s."

The club aims to promote AAPI culture on campus through a variety of social and educational events they will be hosting in the future, and they plan to provide more merchandise later on to make this possible. Though purchasing has closed, they are still welcoming donations to help achieve this agenda as well.

The organizations above have their merchandise available online through BelleTower, CORQ and their social media pages.

Contact Berhan Hagezom at bhagezom01@saintmarys.edu

Design, build, fly looks ahead to contest

By MEGAN CORNELL News Writer

Students in the Design, Build, Fly (DBF) club spend the year designing, building and testing a model airplane to fly in a competition against universities from all over the world.

The competition was created by the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), which sends participants a list of missions to complete for the competition. This year’s task is to build a plane that releases a glider and has “fuel tanks” (plastic water bottles) under the wings. The final competition will take place at an airfield in Tuscan, Arizona from April 10 through 13.

Before the club begins building the plane, DBF’s chief engineer senior Isabella Field works on a complicated scoring analysis code.

… we’re not that big of a club, which is honestly really great, because every single member that comes to a meeting will get to do something very helpful.”

The club is split into different teams, each focusing on a specific aspect of the design. The teams include research and development, payload, structures and aerodynamics. Sophomore Cameron Thompson is the sub-lead of the aerodynamics team.

“On the aero squad this year, we did a lot of stability analysis on the plane. Basically, we make sure it can fly and it’s optimized for our mission,” Thompson said.

their plane flies as quickly as possible.

“We build around four or five planes. Usually our first plane is just about getting it in the sky. Once we have that, we say ‘okay, what can we learn from that flight? How can we improve?’ and we take that information and build a second plane,” Field said. Another important aspect of the competition is a detailed report that competing clubs must submit explaining their design. The report is around 60 pages, and writing a good report gives clubs an advantage at competition.

Hall community.

“The real critical heroes in the story are the people who actually run this event, the people who go to the hall councils, the people who stand there in Duncan Student Center and this stand in LaFortune,” Dolan said. “When people say, ‘oh, you’re saving a life,’ it’s not necessarily just me. It’s a culmination of those efforts to put it in that big picture.”

After completing a few more blood tests, Dolan flew out to Seattle on Nov. 7, 2023 to take

part in the donation. Upon returning to Notre Dame, Dolan was welcomed and celebrated by the Duncan Hall community who had also provided support throughout the entire process.

“It’s such a beautiful thing that Duncan Hall has been able to put [on the Kary Project] and save lives,”

Dolan said. “I think just looking back on it in my personal life, it’s a beautiful feeling [knowing that] my stem cells, something I just was born with, has the power to cure this person’s disease.”

Contact Sophia Tran at stran2@nd.edu

“I take all the information the AIAA gives us and create an optimization code. It factors in the aspect ratio of the plane, how much weight it’s carrying, the wing span, the takeoff distance and it spits out a bunch of configurations that would fly … I pick the best configuration to go with,” Field said.

After Field runs the code, the design and build work begins. Because the club consists of around 30 members, everyone is able to participate in the building process.

“The club is open to anyone,” Field said. “When I first joined as a freshman, I knew absolutely nothing about aerodynamics

As project manager, junior Ben Walsh is responsible for keeping the club on schedule and making sure their project will be ready for competition. Once the initial build is complete, the club visits an airfield located roughly twenty minutes from campus. There, they fly their plane for the first time, carefully collecting data and observing any changes that need to be made. The first flight has been rescheduled for weather a few times, but DBF hopes to take flight this Saturday, Nov. 23.

“For the first flight, the goal is to have an aerodynamic concept, where we can say, ‘okay, this is the shape and size of the wings. This is what our tail is going to be. This is the motor we’re using,’” Walsh said.

Once the team completes a successful flight, they will modify the design to incorporate all of the required missions and ensure

“The report is very important for scoring because when you get to the competition, the order in which you fly is based on your report score. If you do really well on the report, you get to fly first, which means you can repeat your missions more times to get a better score,” Field said.

Each of the leads and sub-leads travel to competition in April, but the club leadership aims to invite as many freshmen as possible and ensure the club experience lives on. Traveling to the competition as a freshman inspired Thompson to continue DBF.

“[The club] did a really good job at making sure a good amount of freshmen could go. There were four of us out of 14 that got to travel, and it was a really good time. It was cool to see the different designs that other teams came up with,” Thompson said.

Contact Megan Cornell at mcornell@nd.edu

MEGAN CORNELL | The Observer

Sophomore Alyssa Watkins sits next to the Design, Build, Fly club’s model airplane for the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics. The club plans to have their first flight this Saturday Nov. 23.

Joe Rudolph Esq. takes on “Big Food”

If you live in the United States of America, you make a lot of sacrifices. You pay taxes, respect government authority, drink whole instead of raw milk — all things you wouldn’t want to do yourself if American culture wasn’t the way it was.

But there’s another buy-in for living in the U.S. When you live here, you sacrifice your God-given right to eat food that won’t poison you. When you live in the U.S, in any city or suburb, you are forced, manipulated and coerced into consuming toxic, vile, drug-filled, addiction prone, chemically infused, decrepit, flesh-wasting, vomit inducing, poisonous ‘food’-like substances. Three meals a day. Seven days a week.

There is not a single processed carbohydrate on the food market, nor are there many cooking oils that do not contain seed oils. Seed oils also happen to be the BANE of our existence! For years we have been lied to and DECEIVED! We have been told that seed oils are a healthy option, that they are a great replacement for saturated fats. And what have we become as a result of consuming them? Obese, chronically ill and enslaved! Higher rates of obesity and chronic illness have risen astronomically in the United States since the 1980’s — almost the exact time when fast food companies and food manufacturers began to use seed and vegetable oils to cook their food. Previously, companies like McDonald’s had used beef tallow, a healthy saturated fat. During that time period, fast food grew rapidly across the United States but the obesity and chronic illness rate remained constant. Since the 1980’s, however, our obesity rate has nearly tripled, as has our consumption of highly processed foods (poison) doused in seed oils (more poison).

Manufacturing seed oils is also complicated. They are made through a chemical process where the seeds are shelled, crushed, conditioned, flaked, mixed with Hexane — a toxic organic compound, distilled, then BLEACHED and finally deodorized to produce a highly refined and processed seed oil. Or, an alternative process to seed oils would just simply be squeezing olives. But what does this show? Is bleaching our food the way to go? Nay, the seed oils that are used in almost all restaurants, processed foods and even home cooking are bleached and mixed with toxic chemical compounds in an arduous and highly refined process. Within seed oils are copious amounts of Omega-6 Fats, which lead to bodily chronic inflammation. This includes conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, strokes and type 2 diabetes.

So why are seed oils still used if they’re so unhealthy? And why do most health journals and dietary publications say very little about their harmful effects? Why do seed oils control the American diet? Who is profiting from this? I decided to return to my investigative work to find the answer.

Step 1: Follow the money from the ground up.

I decided to begin my work by looking at the primary shareholders of the pesticide and fertilizer companies. These unhealthy pesticides — used in just about all of our food — are the first step of seed oil manufacturing.

In most of the publicly traded companies, BlackRock and Vanguard appeared to be the primary investors. Both are institutional investment and asset managers. Correction: BlackRock and Vanguard are the two largest institutional asset and investment managers in the world, with a combined total of $20.8 trillion in assets under management. Hm. Food for thought.

Step 2: Trace the Money and the Product

After the seeds are fertilized and sprayed with legal poison which deteriorates the body and degrades the dignity of every human soul, they are harvested and manufactured by the seed oil processing companies. Again, I decided to take a look at the primary shareholders of these firms. Why? Primary shareholders have the greatest influence on a firm’s decisions because they represent a firm’s largest source of capital.

Excluding Cargill and LD — two privately held companies — each publicly traded company’s largest institutional investor was either BlackRock or Vanguard. Both companies are the largest stakeholders in both the pesticide and the manufacturing companies which produce seed oils. Therefore, in order to see the value of their shares in each company grow, it is in BlackRock and Vanguard’s best interest to flood the food

market with seed oils. Every investor who finances a firm wants to see increases in market capitalization, profits and share prices. In other words, BlackRock and Vanguard profit off of bodily inflammation, chronic illness, heart disease, strokes and diabetes. How ‘growing the good in business’ of them!

Step 3: Third Party Poison Distribution

Firms like PepsiCo, Tyson Foods, Kraft Heinz, General Mills and Kellogg are the leading food processing companies in the United States. All are notorious for their production of highly processed snacks, sweets and beverages. They purchase seed and vegetable oils to produce highly processed and highly unhealthy foods while likely bribing the FDA in order to legally sell their product. So … who owns these food manufacturing companies?

Every single company’s primary shareholder is one of two companies: BlackRock or Vanguard. All of them use deep fryers, pesticides, corn syrups, an assortment of food dyes and most hazardously, seed oils. And all of these ingredients are terribly unhealthy for human consumption.

Step 4: Sniffing Through The Coverup

BlackRock and Vanguard clearly profit off of obesity and chronic illness in the United States. In fact, it is in their economic interest that people consume unhealthy and highly processed foods, given that they are the primary shareholders in almost every single pesticide, seed oil and processed food manufacturing company that is publicly traded. So why haven’t health publications been more vocal about the threat of seed oils and highly processed grains?

Any dietary publication that has the ability to scale its influence is often publicly traded. And who are the largest shareholders in those dietary publication companies? No need to guess.

WW International, known as WeightWatchers, has a massive audience with 8 million website visitors every month. Simply Good Foods is the parent company of Atkins Nutrionals and Quest Nutrition, who are both self labeled nutrition companies and health publishers. Medifast does clinical research specializing in weight loss and nutritional solutions. All of them, with their research, their products and their publications, are funded primarily by BlackRock and Vanguard.

Naturally, it makes sense that after intensely scouring the internet, I could not find a single article produced by any of these six dietary publications which explicitly denounced the use of seed oils in the human diet. I guarantee you that you will not find one either. Instead, you will find articles like this, an article by WeightWatchers which presents a guide to cooking with seed oils. How ironic.

A Dietary Publication whose name implies providing people with the nutritional information necessary to lose weight is concurrently guiding people to use ingredients which lead to obesity and chronic illness. Or you’ll find an article published by Atkins Nutrionals which discusses the nutritional value of seed oils, including Canola Oil: “This healthy cooking oil is made from the seeds of the canola plant. Canola oil is one of the healthiest cooking oils.”

Or let’s go back to WeightWatchers when they dropped an article titled, “Processed Food Gets a Bad Rap, Should It?”. It gets more misleading. They never once condemn the consumption of processed foods in the article. They — they being actual doctors who are clearly bought and paid for — only say “consume sparingly” when it comes to processed foods. How about: “Don’t consume at all?” Or: “Avoid them at all costs because they are legal poison?” Nope. Just consume them sparingly. We wouldn’t want to upset our primary shareholder, now would we?

Atkins Nutrionals might be even more ironic. They claim to produce low carbohydrate foods and meal plans for those seeking ways to eat deliciously while losing weight. And yet, all of their foods are highly processed, with copious amounts of additives and sweeteners in their foods.

This can cause digestive issues, decreased energy and infertility. In fact, the first ingredient in these weight loss Atkins Bars and Atkins Shakes is — you guessed it! — a variation of vegetable oils. Sunflower, canola and soybean oils are all used in the production of weight loss ‘health’ foods. There could not be more blatant situational irony.

Let’s move on to other ways in which BlackRock and Vanguard infiltrate the dietary research world. WebMD is

known for publishing online health advice pertaining to drugs, nutrition and exercise. WebMD is owned by Internet Brands. They own a diverse portfolio of health-related websites including WebMD, Medscape and MedicineNet. Internet Brands is owned by the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. And who are their primary shareholders?

Step 5: Pointing out the corruption!

So, a conflict of interest has clearly arisen.

We are being fed poison. BlackRock and Vanguard have encouraged and invested in food processing companies who made food cheap to appeal to the market, then made it cheaper than healthy foods to divert human interest and exploit human needs. Most families may not be able to afford healthy diets, so food companies provided an addictive and exploitative solution. As a result, our country has never been more obese or unhealthy. Our country has never suffered from as much chronic disease, heart disease or cholesterol issues. Our weakness to go for comfort has been exploited by a higher power.

BlackRock and Vanguard are explicitly profiting off of the obesity and chronic illness epidemic. Subsequently, they are investing their profits in dietary publications to coerce the health industry into succumbing to their lust for money. In other words, the information published by publicly traded health organizations is false. We are being lied to by the health industry so that BlackRock and Vanguard can retain and expand their profits in the food industry.

Think about this for a minute. If dietary publications denounced seed oils as poison, it would not be in BlackRock or Vanguard interest to invest in those dietary publications because they clearly conflict with their series of prior investments in the seed oil and highly processed food companies. In other words, if the health industry went against BlackRock and actually told the truth, they would lose their two primary shareholders — their two most reliable forms of investment and raising capital.

BlackRock and Vanguard control the seed oil industry, the processed food industry and the dietary recommendation industry. BlackRock and Vanguard are the primary shareholders in just about every single company in every single industry, creating an unspoken monopoly of totalitarian control. In order to retain investment, food manufacturing companies and dietary publications are economically inclined to appease their primary shareholders rather than tell the truth. Companies will lie until it’s illegal in order to keep their largest shareholders happy. What does this mean for the American people?

We are being fed poison! We are suffering from increased obesity and chronic illness! We are told that the seed oils we consume in almost every meal are actually somewhat healthy! Americans, the proletariat, have been lied to, exploited, manipulated and crushed by the sickening and endless pursuit of profits by the corporate elite!

My Conclusion:

BlackRock and Vanguard are simultaneously using their position in asset management to invest in both hazardous food companies and dietary publications to establish a regime of totalitarian control. This puts BlackRock and Vanguard in a position of complete power over the food industry and the medical field as it sits on its almighty throne of lies!

So what can you do?

I will present to you three suggestions to avoid BlackRock’s blanket of immoral control.

1. Never, under any circumstances, assume that anything you read in a dietary publication is true. BlackRock and Vanguard have assured that only lies will be published in the health industry. Anything you read in a health magazine or website is a lie.

2. Eat steak three meals a day, 100% pasture raised, 100% grass fed. Never touch a single processed carb again unless you want to be swept into the throes of addiction and be forced to confine to the rules of the socialist, totalitarian oligarchy we know as BlackRock.

3. Find the “Black Rock” and destroy it.

To file a complaint, reach out at jrudolp3@nd.edu. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Joe Rudolph, Esquire

Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Hold the door, please

Kelsey Quint Viewpoint Copyeditor

We all have those little things. And by “little things,” I mean overwhelming convictions. All-consuming philosophies, ways of life. Ships we’d go down with. Forts we’d hold. Hills we would die on, get back up, only to bite the bullet again.

While I have more than a few words to say about the social expectations of airplane deboarding, or the fact that — what’s apparently news to some — sidewalks are two-way paths, none of these irritations amount to that one hill I’d twice die on: holding the door.

So, I have one overarching belief in life: always hold the door. Allow me to explain the door-holding philosophy. It is rooted in four founding principles:

(1) Door-holding is an indicator of courtesy. This one seems obvious, I know. But it’s easy to help others when it’s convenient for you. True selflessness can only be measured in outof-the-way kindness, such as holding a door when it interrupts your rhythm. Door-holding is fundamental in acknowledging the humanity in others, that they are people too (and that people don’t deserve to have doors slammed in their faces).

(2) Door-holding is an art. Overthinkers know this artistic endeavor well. There is a preparation. You find yourself approaching a door, with a follower behind you. They’re not hot on your heels.

Yet, they’re close enough that you know the door-holding philosophy applies. The last thing you want to do is arrive at the door too early, because such a failure would inflict upon your follower that awkward trot — you know, that little jog you do when someone far ahead is holding a door for you. In a brave effort to spare your follower this fate, you slow down your pace, but only to find that they’ve done the same. A seesaw of speed progresses. But, don’t worry, eventually you will prevail. After all, you are both going the same way.

(3) Door-holding practices patience and self-control. Life is full of difficult people. We encounter them every day — sometimes we are the unfortunate ones that find ourselves holding the door for them. First, there are the feet-draggers. The last to the finish, unhurried individuals that don’t seem to care that you have things to do, places to be.

Propping the door open, you convince yourself that the worm on the sidewalk must be moving faster. And then, of course, there are the bad-mannered. Eyes glued to their phone, they (miraculously) somehow passed the fifth grade without learning the phrase “thank you.” As much as you feel an urge to slam that door shut in spite, you hold it open because, every so often, you meet that good-natured fellow who thanks you with a smile, making all the difficult people worth it.

(4) Door-holding determines your reputation. That’s right — I will absolutely be judging you on whether or not you hold the door.

But, isn’t that something we all do? Let’s recall that most people we hold doors for are strangers. And that’s the beauty in it — door-holding is a form of micro-interaction that reminds us that we are a part of the human race. So, if you do not bother to prop it open for the next guy, you come off as disrespectful, no way around it. Bottom line is: if you do not want to seem like a jerk, hold the door, please. When reaching for the handle next time, take a quick glance behind you. That’s all. It really is quite simple.

You can contact Kelsey at kquint@nd.edu.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Working title

Working Title is the name of my column. I did not come up with this on my own, but rather stole it from one of my favorite podcasts “Working Title” by Margot Lee.

I started watching her videos on YouTube some handful of years ago and have since kept up with her content and even bought my own copy of her prompted journal (go to noparticularorder.com and get one).

Throughout the various forms of media content she posts online, she remains true to a very specific vibe: calm, cool and collected, making the environment feel as though you are sitting right across from her catching up on life over coffee.

When I began writing for this section of The Observer, that was what I hoped my column would feel like to the readers who choose to indulge in my stuff. But the more time I spent focused on crafting up this easy breezy image of myself, the harder it was to execute.

This semester especially, I have felt major writer’s block and a lot of difficulty coming up with things to speak on. Second guessing myself and my writing capabilities most days I sit down to type out these things, I always attempt to reframe my thinking by coming back to why I keep choosing to write, to which I respond: because it is something I genuinely enjoy.

Often used in movies and television as

a temporary name for a product or project, I liked the name Working Title because it encompasses a little bit of everything, leaving me bound by nothing and, honestly, that is exactly what I feel like my life is right now.

With an existential crisis regarding post-grad life just waiting to happen, I feel major fear knowing that my next steps are completely up to me and that there is essentially no definite plot in my life that needs to be followed.

I need to come up with a story on my own, and I don’t know how it’ll even begin.

And as unfortunate as the truth is, it is okay to not know.

In fact, isn’t that the whole point? I mean seriously, if we knew where we were going, it wouldn’t be fun, would it?

I never want to come off as a motivational speaker — I really don’t feel qualified for that sort of gig — but I will say that if you feel lost, or don’t feel like you have it all figured out, acknowledge and try your best to accept this truth.

You are young, you are breathing and everything will work out in due time.

For now, go play in the snow.

Moira Quinn is a senior at Saint Mary’s College studying communication.

When she isn’t writing for The Observer, she can be found with friends, watching a good romantic comedy or missing her basset hound. You can contact Moira at mquinn02@saintmarys. edu.

The views expressed in this column arethoseofthe author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

An Evening with

Phylicia Rashad

Join us for an evening with Tony-award winning actor Phylicia Rashad as she discusses her extensive acting career in films, TV, and Broadway. Film and television credits include: The Beekeeper, Jingle Jangle, Pixar’s Soul, Black Box, A Fall From Grace, Creed, Creed II, Creed III, For Colored Girls; This is Us (three Emmy nominations), Diarra From Detroit, Little America, The Crossover, The Good Fight, David Makes Man, and Empire

Monday, November 25

7:30 p.m.

Moreau Center for the Arts O’Laughlin Auditorium

Tickets for this event can be purchased through the QR code or online at saintmarys.edu/events.

Members of the tri-campus community are invited to attend at no charge, but must reserve a ticket.

Moira Quinn Working Title

THE INFAMOUS ‘CHICAGO NIGHT 1’

By NAISCHA PURI Scene Writer

On Wednesday, Nov. 13, after one broken-down train and two hour Uber ride, my sister and I made it to Chicago’s United Center for Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour. I had begun listening to Eilish in my middle school years and first heard her and Finneas live in 2021 at the Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City (which was wonderful), so I was particularly excited for this show. Was it worth the four-hour journey, though? Let’s talk about it.

The show began with a white cube of screens in the center of the stage, which faced all four sides of the arena. The stage looked like the figure ‘8’ or a ‘B’ depending on your own judgment, with the gaps serving as spaces for the members of Eilish’s band. An instrumental of her song “THE GREATEST” boomed from speakers are strobe lights flicked around the United Center. “THE GREATEST” is the 6th track on Eilish’s 2024 album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. The singer herself arrived standing atop the cube, in a red oversized jersey with the number ‘80’ printed on the front and back and baggy black basketball shorts. Eilish

also sported some clear-rimmed eye glasses. Listeners in the audience screamed and cheered as the band began to transition into the intro for the 3rd track on the album, titled “CHIHIRO.” The arena was filled with blue as the lights changed color.

The show continued according to its regularly scheduled track listing until about twenty-eight minutes in, when she started her soft, somber tune from 2018, “when the party’s over.”

Eilish explained to the audience that she required silence for the next segment of her performance as she would be looping and layering her harmonies for the song, recording them live. Right as she finished recording her final harmony, however, a man in the audience cried, “I love you!” prompting the rest of the crowd to follow and begin cheering. It turns out, this cheer came prematurely as Eilish’s expectation was that the audience remained quiet until her singing the words, “Don’t you know I’m no good for you.”

Since the shouting did not affect the music at all because she had finished recording her harmonies, there did not seem to be an issue. As the show went on, though, I began to notice a dip in energy and general vibe in both the performers and viewers. Logging onto TikTok during our car ride back to campus, I

realized that “Chicago Night 1” had become notorious for hosting a horrible audience. Eilish herself pointed out at her show in Chicago the following night that we were the only audience on her tour that was not able to keep quiet during that portion of the performance (and for the record, I thought her practically shaming everyone in attendance that night was kind of comical and unnecessary).

Some people at the show defended “The Man Who Yelled” in the comments of these TikTok by claiming that Eilish herself told the crowd to be silent for 30 seconds (which we were) when she really wanted one minute of silence. Others expressed their gratitude that they went Night 2 and not the first night, stating the energy was far better. Eilish later explained why she was off during the first performance in Chicago as she (conveniently) began to feel ill in the middle of the show.

Overall, I had a splendid time despite the tumultuous adventure required to make it to the arena on a Wednesday night as well as the controversy that stormed social media over my show. Chicago Night 1, if its any consolation, I had a lot of fun.

Contact Naischa Puri at npuri@nd.edu

COMEDY, PLOT, MYSTERY,

By CHRISTOPHER COPE Scene Copyeditor

On Wednesday night I trekked from North Quad to the performing arts center in order to watch Notre Dame’s production of “The Game’s Afoot” directed by Carolyn Dell, and I’ll tell you now, it was worth the hike.

The play follows a group of actors gathered at the home of the famous stage star, William Gillette (William Rosemurgy), who is best known for playing Sherlock Holmes. When one of the guests is mysteriously murdered during the weekend gathering, Gillette, inspired by his role as Holmes, takes it upon himself to solve the crime. Let me frame this review with a word of humble caution. I haven’t reviewed any plays or have gone to many prior to making this review and so I don’t really have many reference points compared to overs of the genre. I can only give my (enthusiastic) reaction.

It seemed like the director could take the play in two directions. The play could be directed as a mystery with comedic bits sprinkled in or as a comedy with the plot taking

a secondary role. This production of “The Game’s Afoot” went the latter route and did so superbly.

The production was hilarious, with high energy through its entirety and constantly moving. There were truly zero wasted seconds. The one criticism that I had as a result of the density of content is the fact that I found it difficult to have any genuine “Ah-Ha!” reaction to the sudden revelations about the mystery as the actors ran through the conclusions quickly without much room for the audience to emote or process. The motives of Simon Bright (Robert Fuller) and Aggie Wheeler (Josy Pitaro) seemed more as a hoop to jump through rather than an important plot point.

While the pacing was fast, by no means was this a show lacking painstaking dedication and preparation. A particular scene that illustrated this was when Darie Chase had a knife in her back. Without going into too much detail, the 20 seconds of perfectly timed choreography aligned with clear line recitation from Gillette I found truly impressive.

The performances that stood out to me were: William Rosemurgy’s William Gillette, Grace Osoteo’s Martha Gillette, Eli Gay’s Felix Geisel and Evelyn Berry’s Daria

Chase. William Rosemurgy exuded the eccentricities of William Gillette and provided a really fine center for the other characters to work around. Grace Osoteo made Martha Gillete incredibly funny with her mannerisms and line executions. Eli Gay’s Felix Geisel had wonderful chemistry with every character but he and Emse Wickles’ Madge Geisel were an especially vibrant comedic duo. Lastly, Darie Chase’s performance was especially impressive. She was entertaining alive, but I thought her role as a corpse gave a holistic view of her ability. Her motionlessness for a long period of time while being pushed and carried by Gillette and Felix was certainly harder than it looked.

Aside from the performances I thought the set design was also particularly immersive and well executed. The stairs and doors to nowhere, the wall of weapons and the soothing color of the walls. I thought it was all visually captivating. Overall I highly recommend that you go see “The Game’s Afoot”. Future productions will be on Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

Contact Christopher Cope at ccope@nd.edu

BARAKA BOUTS

Recapping Thursday’s Baraka Bouts finals

By CLAIRE WATSON Sports Writer

The Baraka Bouts finals took place on Thursday night, featuring nine matchups. As each match ended, both boxers were presented with trophies.

Kiska “The Hitwoman” Porter (Gold) def. Erika “Tortilla-Slayer” Cucala (Blue)

Senior Cucala from Barcelona, Spain, made her way back to the ring for the third time in this tournament to face off against Porter, a Columbus, Ohio, native and representative of BreenPhillips Hall. Cucala, throughout the match, while using her height advantage, used a defensive strategy as she threw a combination of punches and backed away while Porter used a more offensive strategy. getting as many hits in as possible. By unanimous decision, Porter became the first champion of the night.

Caroline “Waisan Persuasion” Landry (Blue) def. Katie “Beast” Sullivan (Gold)

The senior California native and Lewis Hall representative, Landry entered the ring for the second time, facing off against the Michigan native Sullivan. The two moved around the ring at a quick pace, throwing punches back and forth. The match came to a quick end ,with Landry taking the win due to the referee stopping the competition.

Rosie “The Riveter” Binette (Gold) def. Luisa “Karma” Capobianco (Blue)

Senior Welsh Family resident Capobianco from Pennsylvania entered the ring again to face off against New Yorker sophomore Binette, who represents Johnson Family Hall. Light on their feet the entire time, both fighters used a method of defensive and offensive strategies, but Binette

SMC BASKETBALL

leaned towards the offensive technique, landing multiple punches to the head. The two went back and forth, and it was hard to tell the winner, but by split decision Binette took the win becoming the third champion of the night.

Riley “No Smiley” Vandevelde (Blue) def. Kaitlin “Mo Pain” Mohlenkamp (Gold)

Vandevelde, the Sierra Madre, California, native and Pasquerilla East resident faced off against senior Mohlenkamp, who hails from Ohio. This fight featured veteran fighters, the two having opposing fighting stances as Vandevelde is right-handed while Mohlenkamp is left handed. Both fighters were landing punches, but Vandevelde took a more defensive route while Mohlenkamp took a more offensive route and landed more punches. As the two veterans kept the energy up, Vandevelde took the win by split decision for the fourth championship of the night.

Mary “Red Sky” Quirk (Gold) def. Hope “The Wonder” Wanken (Blue)

With the energy in the ballroom high, the Lewis Hall resident from Minnesota, Wanken, entered the ring after her win last week to face off against neighbor Lewis Hall resident Quirk. This would be the third fight featuring two veteran fighters, and the two started off with high energy, throwing punches back and forth. As the two danced around the ring, the boxers changed to more of a defensive and offensive technique, but Quirk leaned towards an offensive approach to take control of the bout. As the ballroom energy quickly rose, Quirk took the championship by unanimous decision.

Lynley “Houston’s Problem” Pace (Blue) def. Lauren “Blondie” Buetow (Gold)

Pace, the first-year from

Houston, Texas, and a representative of Ryan Hall, faced off against senior Wisconsin native Buetow. Both boxers were strong as they went with the defensive and offensive approach, but Pace took a more offensive approach, throwing in a lot of punches and hooks. The two continued to go back and forth as they took turns throwing punches. While Pace aimed more towards the stomach, Buetow aimed more towards the head. Pace took the win by split decision to become the sixth champion.

Ocean “The Matador” Leto (Gold) def. Layann “Simbah” Wardeh (Blue)

The junior captain Wardeh, who represents Lewis Hall, faced off against Leto, who hails from Florida and represents Welsh Family Hall. The two veteran fighters used a lot of technical approaches as both landed punches back and forth, and while Leto chose a more offensive approach

using multiple combinations, Wardeh was strong on defense, blocking Leto’s jabs. By unanimous decision, Leto took the win and the seventh championship title.

Elle “The Greek Freak” Strogilos (Blue) def. Tess “Slippin Jimmy” Kesler (Gold)

From the home state of Indiana and a representative of Flaherty, Strogilos entered the ring to face off against New Jersey native Kesler, who represents Walsh Hall. Another veteran matchup showed the emotion in the bout as both boxers showed energy. Both boxers, as they were bouncing around the ring, chose the offensive route as punches were thrown back and forth. Strogilos continued to use the offensive method while Kesler resorted to more of a defensive method throughout the rest of the fight, but in the end, Strogilos took the win by unanimous decision and became the eighth champion of

the night.

Katherine “Bend it Like” Beckman (Blue) def. Lauren “Half-pint” Hubert (Gold)

As a result of a reported injury from one of the original boxers in this match, Hubert, a senior from Nebraska and a representative of Farley Hall who lost in the quarterfinals, came back to face off against senior Beckman, representing Howard Hall, in the final fight. With the energy still high in the ballroom, both boxers started out with equal elevated energy. Despite Hubert’s height disadvantage, she actually used it to her advantage by avoiding Beckham’s punches with a duck to land punches to Beckman’s stomach. Beckman took the high route and land her punches to the head. The final champion of the night was Beckman by unanimous decision.

Contact Claire Watson at cwatson01@saintmarys.edu

Belles pull out a close win against Franklin

By CLAIRE WATSON Sports Writer

After a split weekend at the Hyatt Tournament, the Belles basketball team took a tremendously close 75-74 win over the Franklin Grizzlies this past Wednesday.

Off to a quick start in the first quarter, senior forward Julia Schutz made the first basket ahead of a jump shot from junior guard Nicole Connolly, a jump shot from freshman guard Kate Passinault and a

three-point shot from sophomore guard Kate Restovich to move the Belles ahead at 9-0. While Franklin put up five points in response, Restovich added on two more threepoint shots before two free throws from Passinault made the score 17-5. After a Franklin three-pointer, a foul on the Grizzlies allowed freshman guard Ella Notaro to put in two free throws. Closely following, Restovich added on a layup to make the score 21-8. Franklin finished the quarter with five

straight points to make the score 21-13.

In the second quarter, Notaro started off with four points for the Belles along with sophomore guard Annie Restovich, who added a layup. Kate Restovich then made a free throw, bringing the score to 28-13 before eight points from Franklin made it 28-21.

Passinault responded with a jump shot, a layup and a free throw, Kate Restovich added a layup and two three-point shots, Connolly added on a free throw and Annie Restovich added on a layup to make the score 44-21. Franklin finished the second quarter with a three-point shot to make the score 44-24 at halftime.

The Belles scored the first points of the third quarter as Schutz put in a layup before Franklin responded with six points to make the score 46-30, but Schutz kept going, putting in five more points to bring the score to 51-30. While Franklin put up seven more points,

MOLLY DRINAN | The Observer

The referee declares a winner during the Baraka Bouts final round, held at Dahnke Ballroom inside the Duncan Student Center on Nov. 21, 2024. The night featured nine bouts that concluded the tournament.

(March 21-April 19): A physical outlet will help you release pent-up energy, frustration, and stress. Hiking, challenging your body and mind, and pushing yourself to the limit will feel good, but be careful not to let your competitive nature become insult or injury. Know your limits and pace yourself.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t stew over things you can’t control. Change begins with you; protecting yourself and your rights with finesse will help you get through any situation. A hotheaded attitude will cause friction and not solve problems. Dedicate your time to making improvements. Choose peace and love over hate.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Listen carefully, as the information you receive will be confusing and deliberately trying to lead you astray. Put your time and effort into learning, getting the facts, and incorporating experts to ensure you make wise choices. Getting together with friends or relatives will help ground you.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Turn on your charm, and you’ll attract attention. Mix business with pleasure, and doors will open. A kind gesture will buy you a seat at a prominent table. Don’t hold back when you have so much to offer. Stick to the rulebook; exaggeration works against you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Take time out and have fun. Get together with people who enjoy the same things you do and live in the moment. Entertainment, competitive games, or participating in a cause or event that concerns you will result in meeting someone who captures your interest. Keep an open mind.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Sit tight, monitor what’s happening around you, and make choices that keep you out of harm’s way. A healthy lifestyle change will profoundly impact you and how you move forward. Social events will bring you closer to someone you love. Romance is in the stars.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Live, learn, and let be. Focus on what’s important and allow others to do as they please. You’ll gain the most by being yourself and doing what makes you happy. Take the path of least resistance and enjoy what you encounter. Turn your dreams and desires into a reality.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Keep abreast of what everyone else is doing and saying. The information you gather will help you decipher who you feel you connect with best. Refuse to let outside influences challenge or back you into a corner. Do what makes you feel good about yourself and your life.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Honesty is the best policy. When in doubt, keep your thoughts to yourself. Protect your reputation, home, and relationships from scammers and shysters. Use your energy and experience to ferret out what’s false or fact. Accommodate the ones you love by offering incentives. Financial gain is within reach.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Make a motion to change what is holding you back. Research, gain insight into something that interests you, and arrange to participate. Your attitude, understanding, and popularity will grow as you utilize your skills and experience to improve whatever situation or event you infiltrate. Romance is on the rise.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Look around you and use your imagination to devise your next move. Discussing a person, place, or belief with someone you respect will change your perspective. Use your voice to make a difference, not to manipulate. Simplicity, integrity, and facts will have the best impact.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Take the time to prepare appropriately. It will be easy to lose track of purpose and maintain a good reputation. Personal growth, self-improvement, and taking better care of yourself will bring far better results than going head-to-head with someone who opposes your ideologies. Make personal gain your goal.

Birthday Baby: You are theatrical, exuberant, and fun-loving. You are spontaneous and friendly.

SMC BB

Notaro added two points and Kate Restovich added a layup to bring the score to 55-37. Franklin added on six points, but the Belles quickly responded with Passinault adding on two points, Annie Restovich

ND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

adding another two points and senior guard Lauren Gumma added on two points to bring the score to 61-45. Five points from the Grizzlies made the score 61-50, but Annie Restovich finished out the third quarter with a three-point shot to make the score 64-50. The Grizzlies started off the

fourth quarter strong, scoring 20 straight points off the bat to take a 70-64 lead. Despite this big run, two points from Notaro, two from Schutz and two from Kate Restovich brought the score to 73-70 in favor of the Belles. But Franklin fought back, putting two layups in to make the score 74-73.

As the teams fought back and forth with the ball throughout the remainder of the quarter, Connolly saved the day with a buzzer-beating layup to help the Belles gain the 75-74 win. Overall, Kate Restovich led on offense for the Belles as she finished the night with a total of 24 points. Schutz and Passinault

both shined on the court as well, grabbing eight rebounds for the Belles. The Belles next game will take place in Illinois as they face off against Benedictine on Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.

Contact Claire Watson at cwatson01@saintmarys.edu

Irish head to Los Angeles for showdown at USC

By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor

Lights, camera, action. It’s showtime for Notre Dame women’s basketball.

Over the next three weeks, the Irish, currently ranked sixth in the country, will face three programs positioned inside the nation’s top four, travel to the Cayman Islands and open ACC play. Going 4-0 with a 42.5-point average margin of victory against a handful of overmatched opponents was a nice start for Notre Dame. Now, we’re all about to find out what the ceiling of this team really looks like.

The stretch begins with a trip to Los Angeles for a Saturday clash with No. 3 USC. The two longtime football rivals announced a home-and-home series in July, with the Trojans set to visit South Bend during the 2025-26 season. Like Notre Dame, USC has an unbeaten start going, as the Trojans are 4-0 with an opening win against No. 20 Ole Miss and lopsided victories over Cal Poly, Cal State-Northridge and Santa Clara since then.

Notre Dame’s fast start

Two weeks into the season, Notre Dame hasn’t played a close game yet. The Irish defeated Mercyhurst, Purdue and James Madison before most

ND MEN’S BASKETBALL

recently blowing out Lafayette on the road Sunday. In the 9155 win, Notre Dame set a new program record with 15 threepointers, hitting a remarkable 11 triples in the first half alone.

Playing just across the Delaware River from her home state of New Jersey, sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo led the way from Notre Dame with five threes and 29 points. The performance, which followed up a 24-point effort last Wednesday against JMU, earned Hidalgo a share of ACC Player of the Week honors. With four 20-point games on the season, she currently ranks inside the nation’s top five for points per game (25.0) and steals per game (5.3).

Freshman forward Kate Koval has also broken out in the absence of graduate forward Liatu King. The Ukrainian rookie collected ACC CoRookie of the Week honors with back-to-back double-doubles, the first of her career, against JMU and Lafayette. Koval averaged 16.5 points, 17.5 rebounds and 6.5 blocks in the two games while setting a Notre Dame freshman record with 19 boards on Sunday. She currently leads women’s college basketball in blocks per game (5.5) while ranking second in rebounds per contest (13.0).

Beyond Hidalgo and Koval, Notre Dame has three more players scoring in

double-figures to start the year. Graduate guard Olivia Miles has kept humming right along since her season-opening triple-double, averaging 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. Sophomore guard Cassandre Prosper, also returning from a long-term injury, has averaged 10.8 points and 5.5 rebounds. Senior guard Sonia Citron hasn’t broken into her usual scoring form yet, but her 10.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game have made for strong contributions.

Hollywood storylines

When you talk about Notre Dame and USC, you have to start with Hannah Hidalgo and JuJu Watkins. Both landed on the Associated Press All-American First Team last year, Hidalgo leading the nation in steals (4.6 per game) and Watkins ranking second in scoring (27.1 points per game).

What the two sophomore stars accomplished as freshmen could fill out an entire story. Hidalgo broke Notre Dame single-season records in points per game, steals per game and free-throw attempts. Watkins broke the national record for freshman scoring and smashed USC records for points in a game and free throws made in a season. Hidalgo became the ACC Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Watkins took home ESON and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors. Both women won gold for Team USA at the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup.

Last year, Hidalgo went toe-to-toe with another ultradecorated classmate, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, and outdueled her in an Irish road victory. Notre Dame’s then-freshman phenom tallied a ridiculous 34 points and hauled in 10 rebounds. UConn’s superstar mustered only 17 points and two boards. With Hidalgo outscoring Bueckers by 17, the Irish outscored their non-conference rivals by 15 en route to a statement victory.

Getting back to Notre Dame and USC, both teams made massive transfer portal additions during the offseason. While Notre Dame’s Liatu King, the 2024 ACC Most Improved Player at Pittsburgh, and graduate forward Liza Karlen, a 2024 All-Big East First Team selection at Marquette, have not been healthy, USC’s terrific newcomers have.

A graduate forward formerly at Stanford, Kiki Iriafen was an Honorable Mention AllAmerican and the Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year last season. To start her USC career, she’s got 17.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game at an efficient field-goal percentage of 54.0.

Then there’s graduate guard

Talia von Oelhoffen, whose Oregon State Beavers eliminated Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 back on March 29. A model of consistency, von Oelhoffen has posted at least 10 points per game in four of her full collegiate seasons. Despite a slow start scoringwise, she ranks just a touch behind Watkins for the team lead at 4.5 assists per game.

USC’s other two starters are freshman Kennedy Smith and senior Rayah Marshall. Smith, a former California Gatorade Player of the Year, has averaged 10.3 points in her first four collegiate games. Known best for her defense, Marshall has an efficient 9.0 points per game (66.7 field-goal percentage) and 6.8 rebounds per contest. Off the Trojan bench, look for another freshman, Kayleigh Heckel, to make an impact. She and Kate Koval attended the same high school, Long Island Lutheran, with both players leaving as McDonald’s All-Americans and five-star recruits. Through four games, Heckel ranks fourth among the Trojans with 9.8 points per game and delivered a 16-point, five-steal game against Cal Poly two weeks ago. Notre Dame and USC will tip off at the Galen Center at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu

Irish seek a 5-0 start at home against Elon

By ALEX TREANOR Sports Writer

Coming off of a home win against North Dakota, the Irish prepare to face Elon this Friday. Notre Dame hasn’t played Elon since 2006 when they defeated the Phoenix 94-63 in South Bend.

Elon has only played three games so far this season, losing to North Carolina and GardnerWebb with a win against Bluefield in between.

To begin their season, the Irish handedly defeated Purdue Fort Wayne in their charity exhibition game, ending with a 91-54 victory. Three Irish players scored in double digits, including sophomore guard Markus Burton. The Mishawaka native put up 18 points and three rebounds to finish the game. Sophomore guard and Granger

native Braeden Shrewsberry, also tallied 18 points alongside two rebounds and a block.

Hailing from South Bend, senior guard J.R. Konieczny scored 11 and led the team on the glass with six rebounds.

In the first game of the regular season, Notre Dame took down Stonehill 89-60 in Purcell Pavilion with Burton and Shrewsberry again leading the team with 18 points each. Burton also had a team-high five assists.

Graduate student guard Matt Allocco, hailing from Hilliard, Ohio, also scored in the doubledigits with 10 points along with three rebounds. Konieczny led the team in rebounds once again with six and added six points.

Following their game against Stonehill, the Irish hosted Buffalo and defeated them 86-77.

Junior forward and Indianapolis native Tae Davis scored a

season high 27 points and had six rebounds. Shrewsberry and Burton scored 19 points each. Burton also led the team in rebounds with nine total. Junior forward Kebba Njie from Centerville, Ohio also scored in the double-digits with 12 points while tallying five rebounds.

In their first road game, Notre Dame beat Georgetown 84-63. Allocco scored a season-high 17 points and led the team in assists with seven. Burton scored 16 points and had three rebounds. Davis and graduate forward from Ukraine Nikita Konstantynovskyi led the team in rebounds with eight each. Davis also scored 13 points and Konstantynovskyi scored eight.

In their most recent game, Notre Dame retuned home and took down North Dakota 75-58. Burton led the team in points with a season-high 29. He

also led the team in rebounds with nine total. Konieczny also scored in the double-digits with 12 points and grabbed four rebounds.

In their three games, Elon have averaged 86 points per game compared to Notre Dame’s 83.5. Sophomore guard TJ Simpkins leads the team in scoring with 17.3 points per game. Sophomore Nick Dorn joins him in the backcourt, the Charlotte native averaging 16.7 per game. In the 2023-2024 season, Dorn made the CAA AllRookie Team. TJ’s older brother, junior TK Simpkins, falls right behind Dorn, putting up 15 points per game along with 2.3 rebounds.

In their first game, Dorn led the team with 17 points and five rebounds. Sam Sherry, a senior from Pennsylvania, scored 15 points and led the team with

eight rebounds in the game. The Phoenix, however, fell short to North Carolina 90-76.

Following their matchup with the Tar Heels, Elon faced Bluefield and defeated them 10366 at home. Dorn again led the way with 16 points and grabbed five rebounds. TK Simpkins added 14 of his own and a pair of rebounds. In their most recent game, Elon again fell just short, losing 80-79 against GardnerWebb. Dorn and TK Simpkins both scored 17 points to lead the team. Dorn also led the team in rebounds with six, while Andrew King, a sophomore from Arizona, led the team in assists with five.

Notre Dame is set to host Elon in Purcell Pavilion on Friday with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.

Contact Alex Treanor at atreanor@nd.edu

FOOTBALL

Notre Dame’s keys to victory against Army

By NOAH CAHILL Associate Sports Editor

After cruising to a 35-14 victory over Virginia on Senior Day, Notre Dame prepares to enter the final stretch of its regular season schedule, and arguably its toughest test since Texas A&M in the penultimate game against No. 18 Army. The Black Knights are undefeated on the season, putting them in contention for the final spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff field, reserved for the best Group of 5 team in the nation. The primetime matchup in Yankee Stadium is a CFP elimination game for both teams. Here are a few keys to victory for Notre Dame in the must-win game.

No. 1: Execute in the red zone

Army’s defense has been formidable all season, albeit against a weak strength of schedule. Its topfive ranked unit has shut down the run, allowing 82.6 yards per game on the ground, which ranks third in the nation. Most notably, the Black Knights have the top-ranked red-zone defense, allowing only 10 scores between eight touchdowns and two field goals on their opponents’ 20 trips.

However, Notre Dame and Riley Leonard pose a different kind of threat in that area of the

HOCKEY

field. Leonard’s dual-threat ability has been a weapon inside of 20 yards, with the senior quarterback scoring 10 of his 13 rushing touchdowns from inside the red zone. He forms a one-two punch with sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love, who has 12 touchdowns of his own, including a streak of scoring in every single game. In recent weeks, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has turned more frequently to the run-pass option as well, using the threat of his backfield to set up one-on-one connections with wide receivers.

The added layer has handcuffed opposing defenses and contributed to an efficient 87.2 red-zone scoring percentage. The Irish offense has put points on the board in 34 of its 39 trips with 30 touchdowns and four field goals. Should it be able to finish its drives against this stout Army unit, I see a comfortable victory on the horizon. If the Black Knights hold strong, however, this game could get a whole lot closer.

No. 2: Win on early downs defensively

The cliche of “winning in the trenches” is often beaten to death when discussing a team’s keys to victory, but its importance is undeniable in this matchup. Outside of committing an inexplicable six turnovers, the Navy offense was largely stifled due to Notre Dame’s

sheer size advantage on the defensive line. Military academy football teams go into most matchups with Power 5 teams having to overcome this lofty obstacle.

If any team can, however, it would be this Army team, which has been near perfect with the execution of its triple-option offense all year. Averaging 334.9 rushing yards per game, it ranks first in the nation in rushing offense. Quarterback Bryson Daily leads the charge, carrying the football 174 times for a team-high 1,062 yards and 21 touchdowns, putting him first in the nation in rushing touchdowns amongst quarterbacks and second amongst all players, only behind Boise State running back and Heisman contender Ashton Jeanty. Kanye Udoh picks up the majority of the remaining carries, managing 856 yards on 128 attempts with nine touchdowns. In a very limited passing attack, only two receivers, Casey Reynolds and Noah Short, tally double-digit receptions, providing 11 receptions each for 317 and 259 yards respectively.

The Black Knights rarely make mistakes, with only three total turnovers and the sixth-fewest penalties per game in the nation. But this well-oiled machine has yet to face anything resembling this Notre Dame defense, especially up front. Graduate defensive tackle pairing Rylie Mills and Howard

Cross III have been on a tear in recent weeks. After a slow start, Mills has logged six sacks in his last six games, and while he hasn’t had the same statistical production, Cross has also come into his own after appearing hampered by an offseason hamstring injury earlier in the season. While Cross missed the Virginia game after suffering an ankle injury against Florida State, he has been activated for the Army game, head coach Marcus Freeman describing his rest last week as a mere precaution. His return is bad news for the Army offensive line. A key to its offensive success is staying ahead of the sticks on early downs to avoid passing scenarios, something it has been able to do at a high level. Army’s 53.5 third-down conversion percentage ranks second in the nation, which will prove to be a key matchup against Notre Dame’s sixth-ranked third-down defense. The Irish have held teams to 28.9% on the decisive down. If their defensive line can dominate in the way that the matchup on paper suggests they should, creating negative plays on first and second-down runs, the Army offense should not have the same thirddown success.

No. 3: Do not look past the game

After its victory over Virginia,

Notre Dame has rattled off eight wins in a row. The Irish are two wins away from a guaranteed spot in the 12-team playoff field and with a little bit of help, will return to Notre Dame Stadium to host one of the first home playoff games in college football history. The lingering question during the Marcus Freeman tenure remains as to whether or not his team can handle success. Since the disaster against Northern Illinois, Freeman has made sure to show his team film of the infamous loss every week to remind them what it felt like to overlook a team and get punished for it. After staring down the barrel of elimination from playoff contention before October, his team has responded. The Irish open up as two-touchdown favorites and shouldn’t have trouble winning this game or the next one against a dejected 5-5 USC team.

But with every week that this team gets closer to hosting a playoff game, the outside noise gets louder and the expectations get higher. Walking into a historic Yankee Stadium in primetime, Notre Dame has to block it all out. Do that, and the Irish take a massive step closer to their ultimate goal.

Contact Noah Cahill at ncahill2@nd.edu

Irish look to snap their skid against Minnesota

By RYAN MURPHY Sports Writer

Entering its final homestand of 2024, Notre Dame hockey stands at a fulcrum.

Behind the Irish lies an active five-game losing streak dating back to their last home game, a Nov. 2 loss to Wisconsin. Looming large on the horizon is next week’s trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland, for two games across the pond. Therefore, this weekend’s series against the No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers at Compton Family Ice Arena represents a critical juncture of sorts. Struggles with injuries, puck management and a stiff schedule have sunk the Irish to the basement of the Big Ten conference in the last two weeks. Notre Dame is coming off consecutive road sweeps at the hands of No. 5 Michigan and No. 2 Michigan State. Facing its third top-5 opponent in as many weeks, Notre Dame confronts an uncomfortable situation: win this weekend, or board the eight-plus-hour flight across the Atlantic on a seven-game losing skid.

Injury bug bites Irish

Injuries will again be a significant hurdle for Notre Dame to overcome this weekend.

Leading up to last weekend’s sweep at the hands of No. 2 Michigan State, veteran Irish head coach Jeff Jackson found it fruitless to attempt making line combinations early in the week, unsure of which injured players would be able to skate. Jackson faces a similar situation this weekend.

“It’s been a bit of a struggle trying to keep this team out of band-aids,” Jackson said. “I get the trainer’s list after every practice and there’s way too many names on it. So, it has become a factor. It’s disrupted our lines, disrupted our special teams.”

Notre Dame’s leading scorer, sophomore forward Cole Knuble, did not play in either of the team’s two games last weekend in East Lansing. Sophomore defenseman Henry Nelson and forward Jayden Davis were also among the absences. But absences are only the most visible part of the story.

“We’ve got several guys that are playing injured right now, and they’re not 100%,” Jackson said. “It’s kind of the worst stretch that I can remember in quite a while.”

Problems with puck management Given the state of Notre

Dame’s health, Jackson was pleased with his team’s effort in last Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Spartans. The Irish will have to put forward a similar effort, with better puck management, in order to pick up a win this weekend against the Gophers.

“I don’t think we’re defending poorly, but when you don’t manage the puck very well or you make mistakes with the puck, that’s when teams break you down and they get odd man rushes, [or] they go the other way with some speed.”

The Irish have been consistently burned in transition over the last two weekends. Michigan State scored six of their 12 goals against the Irish last week on line rushes or transition plays.

For Jackson, the responsibility of improvement lies on the team as a whole. An area to watch for this weekend will be how Notre Dame’s defense manages puck decisions on breakouts, and how its forwards manage puck support and decisions in the neutral zone.

Minnesota flying high

The Golden Gophers arrive in South Bend fresh off their second loss of the season. Bemidji State provided a jolt to the Gophers system last weekend,

snapping Minnesota’s ninegame winning streak with a 3-1 victory in Bemidji.

Prior to last Saturday’s loss, Minnesota had strung together two wins each against Minnesota Duluth, St. Thomas, Penn State and Wisconsin. The Gophers also beat the Beavers on night one of the series, bringing their win total to 10 and placing them firmly among the leaders of the Big Ten.

Two transfers have been key to the Gophers success this season. Junior forward Matthew Wood, a Nashville Predators first-round selection and Connecticut transfer, leads the team with eight goals. Meanwhile, netminder Liam Souliere came over from conference foe Penn State and has posted a .940 save percentage in six starts. Souliere has split time in net with sophomore Nathan Airey. Neither goaltender has started back-to-back nights, and veteran head coach Bob Motzko so far has had little reason to deviate from that.

Expect a barrage of pucks on the Irish net this weekend, too. Minnesota ranks second nationally in shots per game (36.3) while the Irish have developed an unhealthy penchant for allowing shots in high volume. Notre Dame is currently allowing 35.5 shots

against per game, the fifth-most shots nationally.

Emerald Isle awaits

After this weekend’s series against Minnesota, Notre Dame will depart for the Friendship Four, to be held Nov. 29-30 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Irish will board their flight to Dublin on Sunday, and spend Monday there.

The team will leave Tuesday for Belfast, where it will practice, sightsee and prepare for its first game Friday, Nov. 29, against Harvard. After last year’s 7-19-6 debacle, the Crimson have started the season with notable wins over Princeton, No. 18 Quinnipiac and a tie with No. 8 Cornell.

The winner of the Notre Dame/Harvard match will play for the BelPot Trophy against the winner of No. 13 Boston University and Merrimack on Saturday, Nov. 30. The losers will also play each other for third place.

This will be Notre Dame’s first appearance in the Friendship Four. Originally conceived as a part of the sister city agreement between Boston and Belfast, the goodwill tournament has been running since 2015.

Contact Ryan Murphy at rmurph22@nd.edu

FOOTBALL

Football beat picks: Notre Dame vs. Army

By Observer Sports Staff

Noah Cahill

After a comfortable, 35-14 victory over Virginia on Senior Day, Notre Dame is now two wins away from the College Football Playoff. If they get a bit of help, the Irish could be playing at home in the postseason in late December. The first step involves a trip to Yankee Stadium for a primetime matchup with an undefeated, No. 18-ranked Army team, arguably the greatest test they will have faced since Texas A&M in Week One.

The Black Knights fit the traditional mold of most military academy football teams. They run a smash-mouth brand of football powered by the triple-option rushing attack. Quarterback Bryson Daily leads the charge, carrying it 174 times for a team-high 1,062 yards and 21 touchdowns, putting him first in the nation in rushing touchdowns amongst quarterbacks and second amongst all players. Kanye Udoh picks up the majority of the remaining carries, managing 856 yards on 128 attempts with nine touchdowns. In a very limited passing attack, only two receivers, Casey Reynolds and Noah Short, tally double-digit receptions, providing 11 receptions each for 317 and 259 yards respectively. The unit is a model of sound execution, turning it over only three times all season while committing the sixthfewest penalties of any team in the nation. On the other side of the ball, Army has been a statistically dominant defense albeit against a strength of schedule ranked outside of the top 100. Their 273.9 yards per game ranks fifth in the nation, and they boast the best red-zone defense in the country, stifling teams within 20 yards of the end zone on 10 of their 20 trips.

Despite the strong statistical profile and record, Notre Dame should handily beat this Army team. Leaning on physical mismatches upfront, look for the defensive line to generate negative plays on early downs. On offense, senior quarterback Riley Leonard’s dual-threat ability should prove to be a tougher test for the Black Knights’ redzone defense. If Notre Dame gets this team behind the sticks and forces it into passing situations on third down while finishing its drives, I see a comfortable victory. Army won’t beat itself in the fashion that Navy did and will put forth a formidable effort. However, I see Notre Dame pulling away in the second half and winning by at least a couple of scores.

Army 14, Notre Dame 35

Matthew Crow

You couldn’t ask for a much better Shamrock Series matchup than this, with Notre Dame and Army heading to Yankee Stadium for a primetime duel while boasting a combined record of 18-1 as well as two of the nation’s top three scoring defenses. The deciding factor on Saturday could be how well the Irish are able to contain Army’s dominant rushing attack, as the Black Knights have averaged 334 yards on the ground this season, over 70 yards more than any other team in the country. Army will look to control the tempo like it did in its last outing against North Texas, when it ate up much of the second half with a grinding 21-play, 94-yard scoring drive that lasted 13 minutes and 54 seconds. But Notre Dame’s run defense has been just as impressive all year. Given the one-dimensionality of Army’s offense, it will be crucial for the Irish to get stops in early-down situations to push the Black Knights behind the sticks and force them out of their comfort zone. Notre Dame has been as good as it gets in terms of capitalizing on its opponents’ mistakes, tied for first nationally with 25 forced turnovers this season.

Offensively, the Irish will look to continue building on their late-season renaissance.

Notre Dame still leans heavily on its dynamic run game but has reached new heights on offense over the past few weeks by slowly, but surely unlocking a dangerous passing attack. Riley Leonard has thrown for more than 200 yards in four of his last five appearances after failing to reach that total a single time in his first five games with the Irish.

I don’t see Saturday’s game being quite as much of a lowscoring defensive struggle as the stats might suggest, and while Army will provide a true test on both sides of the ball — especially playing fresh on the heels of a bye week — I think it will struggle to keep up with the Irish. The Black Knights haven’t faced a team anywhere near the caliber of Notre Dame, and perhaps most importantly, the two teams seem to be trending in opposite directions as of late. Army posted its two lowest scoring outputs of the season in its last two games, tallying just 34 total points against Air Force and North Texas after surpassing that number in all but one of its first seven outings.

Meanwhile, the Irish have

been an unstoppable force since the calendar flipped to October — outscoring opponents 21851 — and I don’t see them letting up now with just two wins standing between them and a potential home game in the College Football Playoff. With both teams’ Playoff hopes on the line, Leonard will rack up three touchdowns for the fourth game in a row to lead the Irish to a 10th win for the seventh time in the past eight years.

Army 14, Notre Dame 31

Madeline Ladd

Notre Dame’s path to a College Football Playoffs berth continues as it keeps winning and moving up in the rankings. This week’s bracket projects the Irish would host a first-round game against Alabama, but the journey is far from over as they face the undefeated, ranked Army Black Knights. Army (9-0) is experiencing its best season since 1949, led by quarterback Bryson Daily, who has scored 21 rushing touchdowns. The Black Knights live and die by the run game. While their strength of schedule (124th nationally) leaves room for skepticism, this disciplined team has dominated opponents, trailing only once this season against North Texas last week.

For Notre Dame, the path to victory lies in offensive efficiency. Last week the Irish had too many three-and-outs coupled with drive-killing penalties and senseless dropped passes.

This cannot happen against an Army team that will grind out the clock with long drives to limit the amount of Irish possessions. Riley Leonard must stay sharp, utilizing senior tight end Mitchell Evans and capitalizing on the dominance of junior running back Jadarian Price and sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love on the ground.

Defensively, the Irish will have to be focused and mind their gaps, not overreacting to Army’s deceptive option attack. Facing a service academy can be a challenge, and this is a good Army team that won’t limit itself like Navy did with turnovers. Notre Dame’s ability to limit explosive plays will reveal whether or not Army is really as good as advertised. While this matchup will likely be closer than comfortable, expect the Irish to edge out a hard-fought victory and keep their playoff dreams alive.

Army, 17 Notre Dame, 31

Tyler Reidy

This feels so much like the end of the 2018 regular season. Notre Dame needs two wins to make the College Football Playoff — one against a surprising top-25 team at Yankee Stadium and another against a rival that hasn’t played well but will be frisky. Army is the new Syracuse, and USC is, well, still USC.

Six years ago, that stretch played out with Notre Dame blowing out and nearly shutting

out the Orange before sneaking out of Los Angeles with an uncomfortable defeat of the Trojans. On paper, these next two weeks should unfold similarly. The Irish annihilated another ranked service academy, Navy, just under a month ago and are 6-12 against the spread in their last 18 visits to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (credit to Observer Sports alumnus J.J. Post for finding this stat).

So what makes this Army team different from the upsetminded Navy squad Notre Dame saw at MetLife Stadium? Not much, actually. I think Army has a better quarterback in Bryson Daily, but it’s hard to evaluate his terrific statistics relative to this game. The Black Knights have not yet faced a defense ranking top-50 in the nation for expected points added per play. Notre Dame’s defense ranks inside the top 15. Army has not yet opposed an offense ranking top-75 in the nation for the same statistic. Notre Dame occupies a spot in the top 15 there, too.

It will take a near-perfect start for Army to hang around in this football game. All Navy needed was a couple of early turnovers to self-destruct and lose by 37 against the Irish. If Notre Dame can strike fear in the Black Knights with early aggression on defense and a runfirst, “punch you in the mouth” drive in the opening quarter, this won’t be a close one.

Army 9, Notre Dame 34

MARIELLA TADDONIO | The Observer

Freshman defensive end Bryce Young (30) attempts to deflect a punt by reaching over a blocker during Notre Dame’s 35-14 defeat of Virginia on Nov. 16, 2024. The Irish will take on Army in New York this week.