Print Edition for The Observer for Friday, November 3, 2023

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VOLUME 58, ISSUE 28 | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

Students, registrar prepare for spring All grade levels flocked to PATH Class Search Oct. 26 to explore courses offered next semester

By KELSEY QUINT News Writer

Students of all grades, colleges and majors flocked to the Notre Dame PATH Class Search website Thursday, Oct. 26 to peruse the thousands of course offerings available for the spring 2024 semester.

The following day, students could also view their personal registration time ticket on NOVO (Registration Status and Holds).

Conversation soon swept across campus, as students compared registration times and planned their ideal course schedules.

But, what exactly goes into

creating a master schedule for almost 9,000 undergraduate students?

Rochelle Jones, associate registrar and academic services coordinator at the Office of the Registrar, explained that the process is fairly elaborate and depends on coordination with each academic department.

“So it’s kind of a hierarchy in terms of who has the authority to do what,” Jones said. “We in the registrar’s office don’t decide what classes are being taught. But what we do is, we have a tool that we open up to all the different departments on campus.”

Each department spends a few

months preparing its offerings for the coming semester, using the previous semester’s schedule as a baseline and amending to account for professor availability, new courses and discontinued courses.

“So let’s say the anthropology department, they go into their anthropology schedule, and it starts out by listing what was taught in spring 2023,” Jones said. “They started looking at that like in August. So, August, September and then mid-October is when they’re creating all that.”

If a professor or faculty member wants to create a new course, they must first gain the approval of the department dean and go

Oblate discusses four Doctors of the Church

By ALLISON BOWMAN News Writer

Saint Mary’s hosted artist and 2023 Marianist Award recipient Br. Mickey McGrath Thursday evening. McGrath is an oblate of St. Francis de Sales and the author and illustrator of 21 books. When he’s not writing, McGrath presents his work across the United States.

His work is mostly centered around the “healing power of art” and how practicing faith in one’s daily life draws critical conversations around contemporary religious issues, especially those which relate to women’s experiences in

society and the Church.

“A lot of what I share in my talks is difficult in terms of Church history and the complexity of the Church that we’re still feeling the damaging effects of,” McGrath said. “We can’t heal and move forward until it’s acknowledged and then forgiven, and art is a good way to do that.”

McGrath said faith is about trust in the face of current Church issues.

“The Holy Spirit does not fly backwards,” he said. “We must trust the Holy Spirit is leading us through every period of history and every age, no matter how uncomfortable it might be, sometimes we just trust. That’s what our

News Writer

The Kellogg Institute of International Studies hosted a panel, “Global Democracy at Risk: Why it Matters and What Can be Done,” Thursday in the Hesburgh Center Auditorium.

The five speakers included University professors, directors

NEWS PAGE 3

of democratic institutions and foreign political figures.

The primary topic concerned democratic backsliding, which is the slow decline of democratic values and the rise of authoritarian elements with traditionally staunch democratic institutions across the globe.

The talk also addressed the University’s new democracy

SCENE PAGE 5

The Office of the Registrar website describes the Course Catalog as “a list of all active courses available to be taught each semester.”

Additionally, courses “remain active and part of the Course Catalog unless five years has gone by without a section of the course being offered,” according to the website.

Jones estimates that, each year, about 1,000 new courses are added to the Course Catalog. For spring 2024, there are currently 5,624 courses listed on the PATH Class Search website. However, courses continue to be added to accommodate changing student preferences, see CLASSES PAGE 3

Vatican City official lectures

faith is all about.”

McGrath described some of his artwork which was inspired by some of the most influential female saints. He then recited some words of wisdom from Pope Francis: “Have the courage to swim against the tide.” That’s what all the women doctors did, McGrath explained.

Not only did McGrath discuss the impact of the four women Doctors of the Church, he also displayed the stories of other significant female saints in his artwork, such as Dorothy Day, Thea Bowman, St. Mary Magdalene, see WOMEN PAGE 4

Kellogg panel debates democratic backsliding

By GRAY NOCJAR

through the Academic Course Management Tool (ACM) to add the class to the Course Catalog. The Office of the Registrar explains this process further on their website.

“If they haven’t been taught before and if it’s a brand new course, it needs to be approved by the college dean. The content has to get approved, and they have to make sure there’s enough academic rigor and it’s something that should be given academic credit at Notre Dame,” Jones said. “Once the course is approved, it’ll sit in the Course Catalog and then they can decide whether they’re going to actually offer a section of it and in what semester.”

initiative and the role the Kellogg Institute played in its development. The event began with an introduction from Aníbal PérezLiñán, Kellogg Institute director.

“What is the state of democracy in the world? Why is democracy at risk becoming a problem multiplying across countries, see DEBATE PAGE 4

VIEWPOINT PAGE 7

Courtesy of Katie Whitcomb

Sister Raffaella Petrini lectured on Wednesday about the managerial model of a “leadership of care” at the McKenna Auditorium.

By NOLAN HINES News Writer

Sr. Raffaella Petrini, the highestranking woman in the world’s smallest state, visited Notre Dame on Wednesday to deliver a lecture for the Nanovic Institute.

A native of Rome, Petrini holds a political science degree and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, where she taught welfare economics and sociology of economic processes. Since Pope Francis appointed her in 2021, the Franciscan nun has served as Secretary

SAINTS BASKETBALL PAGE 8

General of the Governorate of Vatican City State — a position which makes her the highestranking woman in the Holy See. Following a brief introduction by Nanovic Institute director Clemens Sedmak and Fr. Austin Collins, vice president for mission engagement and church affairs, Petrini outlined the goals of her talk. It would focus on the value of human work under the lens of Catholic social teaching, examine how such a perspective might affect styles of leadership, analyze see VATICAN PAGE 4

JADEN MICKEY PAGE 12

2

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Students enjoy a walk by Main Circle at sunset. This week saw the first snow of the season on Tuesday, followed by milder temperatures and sunshine later in the week. Upcoming highs are predicted to be in the 50s and high 40s, with a chance of some rain.

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Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Chorale Concert Leighton Concert Hall 8 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Fall concert including works in six different languages.

Special Olympics Flag Football Game Ricci Field 1 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Notre Dame vs. Purdue flag football game.

Byzantine Mass Malloy Hall 10 a.m.

Celebrate the Byzantine Catholic Divine Liturgy.

First Gen Week Start Student Center-CSC Atrium Dining South 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Write a letter for a first generation student.

Lunch and Learn 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

West Wing Dining Learn about resources from the St. Mary’s Career Center.

DCEC 23rd Annual Fall Conference McKenna Hall All Day “Dust of the Earth: On Persons.”

Asian Allure: Carry the Legacy Washington Hall 7 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.

Enjoy a cultural showcase.

“Into Life” Study LaFortune Dooley Room 306 3:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.

Watch “Into Life” films and discuss.

Principles of Finance Study Session Writing and Tutoring Center, 3rd floor library 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Put on by St. Mary’s.

Berges Lecture with Tomasz Konik Jordan Auditorium 5 p.m. - 6 p.m.

CEO-elect of Deloitte Central Europe.

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Center launches new module on ND Mobile

By ETHAN CHIANG News Writer

On the ND Mobile app, one module features an array of colorful hands around a globe — a distinct contrast to the traditional blue and gold of other icons. According to its developer, the icon is purposefully vibrant to symbolize the multifaceted world of languages and cultures.

The Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures (CSLC) launched a new module on ND Mobile to centralize all language and culture-adjacent events and programs happening on campus.

Professor Eva Hoeckner, program manager of language

Classes CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

and even global changes.

“Even after we had classes come out on Thursday, we had someone decide that they wanted to offer a new course and it was all about conflict in the Middle East.

So it was very timely,” Jones said.

“Obviously, three months ago, they didn’t know they wanted to offer that course. That makes sense. But we let them do it.”

Once each department reports the courses that will run next semester, the Office of the Registrar

initiatives in the CSLC, led the creation of this “Languages & Cultures” module.

In her role, Hoeckner said she has been trying to encourage the Notre Dame community to participate in a broad range of language events and multicultural experiences.

“I’m spearheading initiatives about increasing the engagement and participation of students, faculty, and everybody else on campus in language-related events or activities,” she said.

With the CSLC and language departments hosting various weekly events, Hoeckner said the app aggregates it all in one place for users.

“The missing link to me was I have the language week, the

[Globally Engaged Citizens program], the [language] masses, but how do I know about all of this?”, she said. “Having one place where all the events, not only things [the CSLC] organizes but that all language departments organize — how cool is that?”

In the module, there are two sections: one for programs and one for events. “I am going to add live streams and archives later on.

That could be a worthwhile effort,” Hoeckner said.

According to Hoeckner, consolidating the information on an app is easier for students, who may otherwise have to parse through individual websites.

“The only other way you can

find information on the events is when you have to go to the websites of the individual programs or departments. You already have to have a pre-selection in your mind,” she said.

Hoeckner added the module’s features, such as the ability to scroll through the events and save them to Google Calendar, can enrich one’s experience and options.

From discovering music events for leisure to finding cultural activities for class requirements, Hoeckner said the module allows students to explore their interests in different languages and cultures. For Hoeckner, this accomplishes her goal of encouraging

people to connect with all corners of the world.

“My goal is to make everybody understand that it’s not just you sign up for one language … That’s not what we want. We want to have a more broad horizon — simply as the globalized world is,” she said.

“People speak different languages and, so we want to mirror that reality in our initiatives.”

Hoeckner noted the module has encountered issues with visibility, as it is found at the bottom of the broader “Academics” module. “The fact that it is hidden is truly a problem,” she said.

steps in to sort out schedule times and locations.

“There’s a lot of back and forth that goes on and it happens all the way up until like this past Thursday when classes went live,” Jones said.

“So it’s quite a game to play … there’s a lot of moving pieces, a lot of moving parts.”

With the offerings established, the next question becomes: How are registration times are dictated?

Undergraduate registration for spring 2024 begins with the senior class on Nov. 13, followed by juniors on Nov. 15, sophomore on Nov. 17 and freshmen on Nov. 20.

Jones explained that personal registration time tickets have been selected through the same process for 18 years now.

Students that have a normal classification — meaning that they do not qualify for early registration — are placed into one of two groups, depending on whether the last digit of their NDID is odd or even. Each semester, these groups alternate between early and late registration times.

As for each specific time ticket, those are randomly assigned to the students in each group, respecting the split between the early group

and the late group.

Despite the amount of time and planning that each department and the Office of the Registrar put into course registration, Jones said she realizes that students may still have hiccups on registration day.

“It’s been a long, long, long time since we’ve had any kind of a system outage … but we know the tricks, like, if you can’t log-in for some reason, sometimes it has to do with what Wi-Fi you’re on or, you know, try to incognito browser.

Maybe your Okta timed out in the background and you didn’t realize it,” Jones said.

For these reasons, Jones advised students, “If you’re are having problems, don’t wait — call us immediately.”

“Students can call our front desk or they can email us, but we have a whole team here at 6:15 a.m. every morning during registration,” Jones said. “So, if students have any problems, just call us immediately. Don’t wait two hours, or three hours. Get on the phone, because a lot of times we can help you immediately.”

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Contact Ethan Chiang at echiang@nd.edu

Contact Kelsey Quint at kquint@nd.edu

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NEWS

THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

Debate CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

across regions and across all levels of development nowadays? And perhaps more importantly, what can be done about this? This is the topic of our panel today,” PérezLiñán said.

Pérez-Liñán explained that each speaker represented a particular region or topic of interest, and each was allotted seven minutes to extrapolate on their position.

Jaimie Bleck, a political science professor and a faculty fellow with the Kellogg Institute, took the floor first. She spoke about motives behind a wave of authoritarianism in the Sahel region of Africa, which includes nine coups in seven nations over a three-year period.

Bleck cited a “tremendous imbalance” between presidential power and the other branches of government as one possible culprit for the recent uprisings.

“See, the military is one of the few forces that could check presidential power or could offer some type of counterbalance to the president,” Bleck said. “[This] leads many civilians to justify these coups.”

Bleck also drew an important distinction between procedural democracy — the type defined by the organization of formal government bodies and general elections — and democracy that produces substantive positive change for its citizens.

“The international community is so focused on elections. There’s a real emphasis on the procedural element of democracy. And yet there’s a willingness to overlook a lot of the other gaps in terms of accountability,” Bleck said.

The following speaker, Juan Sebastion Comorro, focused on the political climate of South America.

Comorro was a pre-candidate for the presidency of Nicaragua in 2021 before being detained along with a number of opposition candidates and other civic leaders. He was released from prison in February 2023 and traveled to the United States, where he is now a Kellogg visiting fellow.

Comorro gave two reasons behind the degradation of democracy in countries like Guatemala and his home state of Nicaragua.

The first was economic inequality

Women CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Kateri Tekakwitha and many more.

Continuing with his theme of the Church evolving, McGrath shared a quote from Day. “In all history, popes and bishops and abbots seem to have been blind and power-loving and greedy. I never expected leadership from them.

It is the saints that keep appearing all through history who keep things going,” McGrath recited.

Sophomore Isabel Gable said her biggest takeaway from the lecture was about how the Church is becoming more inclusive.

“The Church has been evolving and I think it’s interesting to see how the Church has become more inclusive and honoring more female

and the second was organized crime.

“The majority of the population is underemployed, undereducated and undernourished. So it’s really hard to build a healthy democracy in such conditions,” he said.

Susan Ostermann, a global affairs professor, spoke about her area of expertise: democracies in the Indian subcontinent.

Ostermann expressed doubt in the strength of the formal institutions within India, and she listed a few cracks in the democratic framework, including the annexation of Kashmir.

The abrogation of a law supporting Kashmiri autonomy resulted in the shutting down of press freedom, the shutting off the internet and the putting of people into a complete state of lockdown, according to Ostermann.

The penultimate speaker was David Campbell, director of the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative. Campbell spent his time promoting the initiative, which is one of three that the University has founded as part of its faculty-led Strategic Framework. The others are the Initiative on Poverty and the Initiative on Ethics.

Campbell said the goals of his initiative are studying democracy, sustaining democracy and promoting democracy in a place for convening important global discussions.

Scott Appleby, dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs, capped the evening by stressing how Notre Dame promotes democracy as an institution of higher education.

He also advocated for a reinvigoration of studies on the political climates of all nations in order to stave off future trends toward anti-democratic regimes.

Appleby said, “If Notre Dame over the next decade is to become the pre-eminent center for the study and repair of democracy in the United States and around the world, we can and must think, within disciplines, across disciplines and beyond disciplines.”

Contact Gray Nocjar at gnocjar@nd.edu

saints and saints of color,” Gable said.

Daniel Horan, a philosophy professor and the director of the Center for the Study of Spirituality, said he was grateful for McGrath’s willingness to visit Saint Mary’s to talk about women saints and Doctors of the Church.

“The hope in all three campuses is for the students to be inspired by these great examples of Christian life and by Br. Mickey’s own integration of art and spirituality,” Horan said. “There are lots of ways to express one’s faith and to do it through art, drawing and painting.

I find to be very inspirational, and I hope students do too.”

Contact Allison Bowman at abowman01@sainrmarys.edu

Vatican CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

two styles of leadership and present the possibility of a third style of leadership — a self-titled “leadership of care” — as a response to the key social question.

The key social question, she said, was first broached by Pope Benedict XVI as “radically anthropological.” Petrini explained Catholic social teaching does not present technical solutions but “theologically inspired” and “socially realist” principles consistent with the evangelical vision. What these principles grapple with is that which has radically changed the social question in modern times: the technocratic paradigm.

“Certain technology and its development have become an undifferentiated and one-dimensional paradigm that leads men to attempt to extract everything possiblewhilefrequentlyforgetting the concept of limits,” Petrini said.

“The Pope cautioned us against adopting the notion of a human being with no limits … that exalts the concept of a subject gaining control over the other, their fellow man.”

An additional danger of the technocratic paradigm, Petrini said, is how it favors the quantitative over the qualitative, being wholly a “very limited, very reductive view.”

What makes the qualitative so important is that it directly deals with the human essence and with human work as a whole, according to Petrini.

“Through work, man comes forward to nature, entrusted to him to respond to his fundamental needs,” Petrini said. “Through

work, man achieves fulfillment as he realizes himself. In a sense, he becomes more of a human being in the world.”

Through this teaching, the secretary-general presented business as being humanly significant, ultimately making the workplace and organizations sites of communal growth in the world.

According to Catholic social teaching, modern businesses should go “from organizations that are primarily oriented towards efficiency and profit, competitiveness and individual gain, towards organizations that are essentially human-centered and sensitive to moral ethics, open to reciprocity and solidarity,” Petrini said.

Petrini added that the leader pursuing integral human development among his staff should aim to sustain the mission of his organization, instill hope and ensure integrity. She cited two current styles of management in organizations: the neo-managerial and the humanistic. While the neomanagerial focuses on the benefit of the shareholders and aseptic ideology detached from solidarity, the humanistic recognizes “business enterprise involves a wide range of values,” Petrini said. The element of human relations, from this view, has great motivational importance.

In this context, Petrini called for workplace leaders and managers to be “experts in humanity.” As demand for esteem, recognition and attention grows among the workforce, a need also grows for managers who are capable of both professional techniques and listening, caring and seeing the work of their collaborators. As such, soft PAID ADVERTISEMENT

skills become crucial in ensuring a holistic work approach. In short, the express purpose of this leadership model is to bring about “work for man, and not man for work.”

“Leaders can be more successful when they express their concerns and inquire about challenges directly,” Petrini said. “When they are open to dialogue and listen to their employees’ responses, it often brings out the best in their collaborators. People come to work with a lot of pain. Addressing that can make a real difference in fostering peaceful bliss in this regard.”

She also spoke about “the innate caring capacity” of women in the decision-making process, with a particular sensitivity to people’s feelings. This sensitivity, she said, compliments management in “promoting a climate of serenity and mutual respect” vital in the workplace. With this in mind, Petrini spoke highly of Pope Francis’ efforts to bring women into more positions of authority, noting her own lofty appointment.

It is the Holy Father’s urging, she said, for organizations to follow this example.

Petrini ended her lecture with a plea: For leaders to pursue effective outcomes through a human-centered management that focuses on the needs of the person, ending the rigid separation between the private and the professional spheres.

“It is only in this that we might seek to grow as persons and professionals alike, consistent with work as an integral part of human existence,” she said.

Contact Nolan Hines at nhines@nd.edu

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THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

By NATALIE ALLTON Scene Writer

There is no greater Halloween movie than “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

It’s got everything: a killer soundtrack, campy dialogue, Tim Curry in drag and, perhaps most importantly, a decadeslong culture of dressing up, throwing toilet paper and doing the “Time Warp” with hundreds of your closest strangers.

A touring production stopped by the Morris Performing Arts Center in downtown South Bend on Oct. 27, so I gathered together several of my dearest victims — sorry, I meant friends — and took them down to have a campy, trashy, delightful evening at the theater.

I’ve written about “Rocky” before, as a retrospective of the film itself. I must say, though, the magic of “Rocky Horror” comes not from the film, but from the following. If you’ve only ever seen “Rocky” by yourself on a laptop screen, you’re doing it wrong.

The show thrives in a theater. It lives in the crowd. It soars when it isn’t a movie, but an experience.

The average age of the crowd at the Morris Performing Arts Center was higher than I expected, with a high turnout of people over 40 and most dressed in a costume from the movie. My group dressed up as well, and we were stopped and asked for a picture several times. The best costume by far was a giant wearable version of the iconic red lips that sing

By COZETTE BROWN Scene Writer

When it comes to Halloween, I expect a lot from the celebrity world. If I can make a better costume for $20 than the world’s richest musicians, models and movie stars, then someone is failing at dress-up (and it’s not me). Using that as my criteria, I like to judge the best celebrity costumes from Halloween every year. I admit, I am a blatantly subjective judge with a preference for costumes that pay homage to the pop culture icons of years past. With that in mind, here is this year’s roundup of what I consider to be the best celebrity Halloween costumes of 2023.

Taylor Lautner and Taylor Dome as Timothée Chalamet and Pete Davidson in “Rap Roundtable” (Saturday Night Live) After careful observation, I have concluded that no SNL skit has better engrained itself in Gen Z’s psyche than “Rap Roundtable.” The understated nature of Taylor Lautner and Taylor Dome’s costumes perfectly capture the spirit of hip hop’s two most confident white boys. I give it ten “Ye, Ye, Skrt, Skrts” out of ten.

“Science Fiction/Double Feature” over the opening credits, and that was the costume that (rightfully) won the contest at the beginning of the show.

The main draw of this performance was a pre-screening talk by Barry Bostwick, the original Brad Majors. His love for the movie is palpable, and he seems so excited to be part of its legacy. He talked about the importance of the film for the queer community, joked about the possibility of seeing your grandparents at the screening and even sang a few bars of the cut Brad song “Once in Awhile.”

At 78 years old, Bostwick has cemented his status as a living legend, and to get to see him talk about a movie he did 48 years ago that still has an active fanbase was such an incredible experience.

This showing of “Rocky Horror” was accompanied by a shadow cast — actors onstage in front of the screen who mouth the lines and copy the actions of the movie above them. It’s a time-honored “Rocky” tradition. I have, admittedly, seen more engaged shadow casts, but that’s not necessarily the fault of the actors.

The ensemble was the combined product of three different “Rocky Horror” shadow casts from the surrounding area. Still, there’snothingmorefunthanwatchingsomeonestrutaround in fishnets and high heels lip-syncing “Sweet Transvestite.”

The cast also made great use of the floor, coming down off of the stage to walk through the audience during “Hot Patootie” and “I’m Going Home.”

The real fun of the performance, though, was the crowd, who were mostly “Rocky” veterans and who clearly knew the film backwards and forwards. Shout out to the person sitting towards the back of the theater who somehow knew something to shout before and after every line in the film. That kind of dedication is unparalleled. I’m always glad to hear new lines to shout at “Rocky” beyond the usual canon of “Say it!” and the Brad and Janet epithets, and I was pleasantly surprised to encounter several lines that I had never heard before. The true spirit of “Rocky” is kept alive by people coming up with new phrases, cultural references and double entendres, and many of the lines I heard seemed like they were inspired in the moment as opposed to being premeditated. Prop bags were available for purchase, and though my group decided to forego them, it’s always heartwarming to hear the snap of latex gloves or see playing cards fluttering through the air.

It’s been 48 years since the release of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” and if the enthusiasm of the crowd at the Morris was any indication, the film’s legacy can only grow from here. At the end of the day, I’m left with just one question: When will Notre Dame finally establish a “Rocky Horror” shadow cast?

Bride as well as Uma Thurman, he comes close. I’m still not sure why Megan Fox tagged @sagaftra in her Halloween Instagram post, but the costume itself is pretty good.

cannot overstate the wholesome power of this happy little costume.

Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber as Sandy Olsson and Danny Zuko from “Grease” It’s a Hollywood miracle that Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber have managed to celebrate over 25 Halloweens together, but their costumes are still going as strong as their marriage. They absolutely nailed the retro look with Gerber’s greased-up hair and Crawford’s gravity-defying head of blonde curls. I suppose the two just go together “like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong” (as it goes in “Grease”).

Megan Thee Stallion as a flower from Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” Megan Thee Stallion, like me, loves Halloween — except, unlike me, she could pull off any costume. This year, she went as a flower from Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” donning a sparkly green bodysuit and what might be the coolest headdress I’ve ever seen. I expected a lot from her, and she delivered.

Drew Barrymore as Bob Ross Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly as Gogo Yubari and The Bride from “Kill Bill: Volume 1” “Kill Bill” is a work of art, and so are these costumes.

Although Machine Gun Kelly could never kill the role of The

Drew Barrymore delivered the one Bob Ross costume I didn’t know I needed in my life until now.

Everything — from the iconic perm to the denim shirt and brown belt/pant combo — was spot on. I

Contact Natalie Allton at nallton@nd.edu

Hailey Bieber as Carmen Electra from “Scary Movie” Speaking of Barrymore — Hailey Bieber recreated model Carmen Electra’s look in “Scary Movie,” which directly spoofed Barrymore’s opening “Scream” scene. Considering that “Scary Movie” might be one of my least favorite films of all time, Bieber must have done a pretty good job to make my (highly subjective) ranking.

Heidi Klum as a peacock Of course, this list would be nothing without the queen of Halloween herself. Complete with a team of acrobatic feathers, Heidi Klum went all in for Halloween — as she always does. I’m impressed less by the costume itself and more by the fact that this somehow managed to top even my wildest expectations. I may prefer last year’s worm costume, but I still give credit to Klum — after all, she could dress up as anything and make it iconic.

Klum will go down in Halloween history just for being her, and for that, she wins the night.

Honorable mentions go to Ed Sheeran as Chucky (truly terrifying), Kim Kardashian and North West as Cher and Dionne from “Clueless” and Maya Jama as Storm from “X-Men.” Contact Cozette Brown at cbrown64@nd.edu MARIA TOBIAS, MARISSA PANETHIERE | The Observer

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THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

Homesick in Seville, Spain

INSIDE COLUMN

Welcome to my Eras Tour Moira Quinn Christina Sayut Graphics Editor

I a lways have my A irPods in, and I am a lways blasting music. There is a lways a good bet to ma ke about what I am listening to — eit her Taylor Sw ift, The 1975, Noa h Ka han or Phoebe Bridgers. Lately, Taylor Sw ift has been ta k ing over my listening histor y, and I’ve been t hink ing a lot about her eras and how t hey a ll inf luence my ow n life and t houghts. This list is a combination of songs I f ind relatable or could listen to for t he rest of my life.

My name is Christina. I was born in 2002.Welcome to my Eras Tour:

Debut : “Our Song” If we have hung out more t han one time, I g uarantee t hat I have a song t hat I have associated w it h you. Ask me about it if you t hink I am ly ing.

This song a lso was t he f irst Taylor Sw ift song t hat I ever heard, and so it is a lways going to hold a specia l place in my heart.

Fearless : “Hey Stephen” W hen I hear t his song, I’m going to dance. Plain and simple. “I can’t help it if you look like an angel,” if I am being honest. This song reminds me of t he beginnings of a heart spark le — t he sweetest parts about meeting someone cute. Ever y time I start to have a crush on someone, t his song plays in t he back of my mind on a loop.

Speak Now: “Never Grow Up”

w ill not ta ke any criticism for my ta ke.

This song is just simply a bop. There is no ot her way for me to describe it. It emphasizes t he importance of k nowing yourself and your relationships, and not pay ing attention to what anyone might have to say. As someone who loves ot her peoples’ opinions, “Ca ll It W hat You Want” is a great reminder t hat people can say whatever t hey want, but it doesn’t matter.

Lover: “Cornelia from Paris)”

Street

(Live

This is an of f ice classic. The live from Paris version is t he best version of t his song. Hands dow n. I can’t wait for Isa to come home, because I w ill def initely be ma k ing him listen to it ever y shift. This song w ill a lways remind me of t he many memories I have in t he basement of Sout h Dining Ha ll, and t he endless late nights t hat I have shared w it h people who mean t he most.

Folklore : “seven” “Love you to t he moon and to Saturn.” This is my favorite line t hat I have ever heard — one of t he most beautif ul reminders to me. As I’ve grow n up, I rea lized t hat people are not a lways meant to be in your life for t he long run. Sometimes you are only close for a short time, but t hat does not mean t hat t he love needs to go away. I often t hink about people I used to be friends w it h in elementar y school, and I still would love t hem just as much as I did 10 years ago.

I love my parents. I love my older brot her. I love my family. W hy do I have to grow up and graduate college?

In a few mont hs, I w ill be in my new apartment in a big cit y and my parents would have just dropped me of f.

W hen I hear t his song, I t hink about my sweet litt le cousins and how I want t hem to stay litt le forever. This song hurts in t he most bittersweet k ind of way, especia lly when I listen to it driv ing away from my grandparents’ house.

Evermore : “gold rush”

Red : “Begin Again”

This is my song. No one understands “Bejeweled” t he way t hat I understand “Bejeweled.” If I had to pick a song t hat would hy pe me up at any hour of any day, it would be t his one. Even when I ask my friends what Taylor Sw ift song I am, most of t hem say t his one.

Coincidenta lly, most of t hese are love songs. Go read my ot her column on love if you are curious about my status as a lover girl. I love love. I love t he way t hat Taylor Sw ift w rites about love, and what about it? Her songs have shaped my life and probably w ill continue to do so. I could probably explain ever y song from ever y a lbum and how it relates to my life, so pick ing one from each era was tough.

You can contact Christina at csayut@nd.edu.

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

“Red” as an a lbum was a pivota l moment in my life. This was t he f irst era t hat I rea lly felt attached to, and it was t he f irst time t hat I saw Taylor Sw ift in concert. I have a lways loved t his song, but recent ly it has made its way t hrough a ll of my playlists.

Maybe it is t he cool breeze and smell of autumn air, but I’m glad to listen to it most mornings.

1989 : “You Are In Love” The sweetest part of love is being best friends w it h your signif icant ot her. Or at least t hat is what I t hink. I love t he beaut y t hat is found in simple love, t he k ind of love t hat you can feel in silence, feel on t he way home and see w it h t he lights out. A ll I want is for someone to pause and tell me t hat I am t heir best friend. Forever gratef ul for t he re-release of 1989.

Reputation : “Call It W hat You Want” “Reputation” is a love a lbum, and I

This song was immediately one of my favorites of f of “Evermore.” It feels like sprinting and t w irling t hrough a f ield w it h w ind blow ing t hrough my hair. I listen to t his song so often when I go on runs because it just has a litt le somet hing-somet hing in t he beat t hat ma kes me go w ild. It k icks of f my runs, but t hen I tr y to play it again later to get myself t hrough t he f ina l push.

Midnights : “Bejeweled”

Working Title

I spent my fa ll brea k roa ming t he st reets of Sev ille, Spa in, a nd missing home.

One of my roommates has been liv ing abroad t his semester, so we decided to book a f light a nd spend some qua lit y t ime toget her for t he week. It was a t rip f illed w it h long conversat ions, insa nely delicious food a nd long wa lks a round a sma ll Europea n cit y t hat prides itself on its cu lture a nd histor y.

The oppor tunit y to be w it h my best f riends a nd immerse myself in a new place was exact ly what I needed to rev ive myself f rom t he mid-semester slump t hat creeps up on me ever y single yea r like clock work.

Ra iny days a re fa r a nd few bet ween in Sev ille, Spa in, but one night we got completely drenched a nd had no ot her opt ion but to stay in a nd watch a mov ie. A f ter some deliberat ion, we la nded on Wes A nderson’s “Fa ntast ic Mr. Fox,” a stop-mot ion comedy follow ing t he lives of a fa mily of foxes a nd a ha ndf u l of ot her ta lk ing a nima ls. It is set in autumn during pea k foliage, capturing t he season in a whimsica lly mag ica l way w it h its red, ora nge a nd yellow hues en ha ncing each shot a nd adding to t he hila rious (yet t houghtprovok ing) stor yline. Watching t his fa ll foliage on f ilm made me long for home, despite t raveling a round such a gorgeous foreig n count r y where summer never seems to end.

I’ve a lways been a rea lly nosta lg ic person.

Cha nge does not come easy for me, as I enjoy t he comfor t t hat fa milia rit y brings, so t he process of g row ing up has oftent imes felt more dra ining t ha n excit ing. Like ma ny college f reshmen, I caught a bad case of homesick ness a nd a lmost dropped out because of it. My habit of w ishing for what once was ca n ma ke it ha rd for me to enjoy t he present moment, a nd I ca n’t help but admit t hat t here is somet hing about t his t ime of yea r t hat just ta kes t hese emot ions to a n ent irely dif ferent level.

W hen I t hin k of fa ll, I a m reminded of my fa mily a nd my child hood. The leaves remind me of a ll t he piles my siblings a nd I jumped into. The brisk cold a ir ta kes me back to bike rides w it h my dad. Layering a nd wea ring chun k y sweaters evokes memories of ea rly holiday shopping w it h my mom. Autumn is a t ime to sit a longside t he beaut y a nd pa in of cha nge a nd

reminisce on who you’ve been, who you a re a nd where you’re going. It’s t he season for priorit izing t he people a nd places you a re homesick for. W hen you miss somet hing, please welcome t hat eerie feeling in your stomach.

But now t hat I a m a junior a nd have formed a life a nd rout ine here at Sa int Ma r y’s College, Chicago isn’t t he on ly home I miss a ny more.

The people I have bef riended in t he t ri-ca mpus communit y a re t he reason I get homesick for Sout h Bend over w inter brea k, summer brea k or even on quick t rips home for t he weekend. My f riends here have helped me rea lize t hat t he people rea lly do ma ke t he place, a nd one day dow n t he line t here w ill come a t ime when I long for college like my child hood. I w ill miss t he wa lks to a nd f rom Not re Da me on ga me days w it h my f riends.

I w ill miss spending too much money on ta ke-out food a nd watching mov ies a nd play ing ga mes on nights when t here is not hing to do. I w ill miss a ll of t he stupid a nd f unny moments we’ve sha red, as well as t he ones t hat have led us to nav igate t his ever-cha ng ing t ime of life.

As we get older a nd ga in new ex periences, homesick ness w ill beg in to ma ke itself k now n more of ten t ha n usua l. We w ill a ll go on to live dif ferent lives, but we w ill a lways have t he people a nd places t hat have shaped us to fa ll back on — t he Not re Da me communit y most def initely is one of t hem. Homesick ness is a sad but beaut if u l concept, as it achingly reminds us of t he impor ta nce of embracing ever y pa r t of life.

A lt hough moments w ill come a nd go, t he love we have ga ined f rom t hem w ill a lways be in our back pockets to comfor t us when we need it. It is a tap on t he shou lder a nd a wa rm hug, telling us t hat we have places a nd people to fa ll back onto.

If you have good people in your life to love a nd to miss, t hat ma kes you t he luck iest person in t he world.

So w it h t he end of t he semester right a round t he corner a nd your homework pile slowly but surely reaching new heights, I encourage you to f ind a moment to appreciate where your feet a re a nd be g ratef u l for a ll t hat you do have in t he present moment.

Moira Quinn is a junior 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.

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

7

THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

Don’t slam the door on drag Dane Sherman Saints Among Us

“You f ****t, get— get out of my house,” my g ra nd fat her Ca rl, a ta l l red neck bu i lt li ke a n a ircra f t ca r r ier, bel lowed in h is deep st utter ing voice. He had just fou nd t he ter r ible t r ut h: His son is gay.

These words f luttered out of my g ra nd fat her’s t h ick pu rsed lips as he sla m med t he g ia nt oa k door beh ind my dad. The h inges crea ked, t he door croa ked a nd, in t he si lence of a sla m med door, t he g ra nd fat her clock kept t ick ing.

My dad was 14. His com mu n it y, net work of suppor t a nd fa it h were obliterated in a n insta nt. By t he t ime he reached h is for t ies, deep in h is bones, he ca r r ied t hat reject ion. By my si x t h bir t hday, he was severely add icted to met ha mpheta m ine ; by my eig ht h, he was gone f rom my life. The t rau ma f rom t hat sla m med door was passed dow n a nd mag n if ied as I lost my fat her.

Today, we’re at r isk of passing t he baton of t rau ma to members of ou r Not re Da me fa m i ly.

Today, t he Un iversit y of Not re Da me’s depa r t ments of f i lm, telev ision, a nd t heat re ; music a nd A mer ica n st ud ies ; t he Col lege of A r ts a nd Letters In it iat ive on Race a nd Resi lience, t he Inst it ute for Schola rsh ip in t he L ibera l A r ts a nd t he Gender St ud ies Prog ra m a re a l l sponsor ing a d rag show.

“In anticipation of the [drag] event, the organizing departments have recieved over 12,000 emails... threatening their lives, their departments, and the pursuit of academic freedom.”

Today, t he ug ly ser pent of bigot r y has rea red its head. In a nt icipat ion of t he event, t he orga n i zing depa r t ments have received over 12,000 ema i ls w it h some of t he most v i le pond-scu m notes imag inable t h reaten ing t heir lives, t heir depa r t ments a nd t he pu rsu it of

academ ic f reedom. Instead of engag ing in product ive conversat ion, t hese “act iv ists” have attempted to dox st udents a nd facu lt y, buy up t he t ickets to prevent people f rom attend ing t he event a nd t h reaten people’s sa fet y to t he point t hat t he event has stopped a l low ing people to get t ickets.

In a bad-fa it h attempt to f ract u re LGBTQ + a nd women’s r ig hts movements, a nt i-gay act iv ists have labeled t h is d rag show as a mocker y of fem in in it y — somet h ing t hat has no h istor ica l back ing.

“[Drag] exaggerates gender in an attempt to subvert and challenge people’s understanding of gender.”

Drag has long been a t y pe of a r t t hat has broug ht toget her com mun it ies. It exaggerates gender in a n attempt to subver t a nd cha l lenge people’s u ndersta nd ing of gender.

The d rag queen a nd host Ru Pau l of Ru Pau l’s Drag Race stated “Gay men don’t do d rag to mock women, we do d rag to mock t he cu lt u ra l concept of ident it y. If you don’t get irony, you don’t get d rag.”

Some have d isg ust ing ly attempted to con f late d rag shows to black face. Cat holic Vote attacked Fr. Jen k ins’ suppor t of t he event, cla im ing “We assu me t h is mea ns Not re Da me’s ad m in ist rat ion, being f ine w it h t he woma n-face mocker y t hat is d rag, w i l l a lso be f ine w it h black-face vaudev i l le a nd m inst rel shows. Not a g reat way to go out.”

Con f lat ing d rag w it h black face not on ly ig nores t he h istor y of d rag but of black face a nd t he ma rg ina li zat ion of com mu n it ies of color.

My god mot her, in her t h ick r u ra l accent, a lways tel ls me “If you’re not w i l ling to have a conversat ion or hea r a rg u ments f rom t hose d ifferent f rom you, t hen maybe you r point of v iew is bad.”

Instead of act ua l ly desir ing a ny t y pe of conversat ion or ex posu re to new ev idence, Cou nt r y Club Cat holics have decided to prove ever y stereot y pe of Cat holicism r ig ht.

Instead of Not re Da me sh in ing as a

beacon of lig ht where ind iv idua ls ga in t he sk i l ls to defend teach ings or ideas, we see fascist forces u nable to cope w it h opin ions d if ferent t ha n t heir ow n.

A f ter I lost my dad at eig ht a nd my mom at 12, fa it h saved my life.

God, prayer a nd t he Chu rch beca me a ref ugee of love, accepta nce a nd g race — a place where f reedom ca me t h roug h a n u ndersta nd ing of mut ua l broken ness a nd a desire to bu i ld a com mu n it y a rou nd redempt ion.

My ea rly Catech ism classes feat u red week ly t r ips to t he homeless shelter. A f ter mass, pot luck s were f u l l of embracing a nd feeding one a not her. The pa rables a nd stor ies imbued us w it h t he k nowledge of past generat ions. I fou nd fa it h as t he place a nd home of just ice.

Read ing t he Bible, I fel l in love w it h t he ma n-cha racter of Jesus who ate, wa l ked a nd sat w it h t he ma rg ina li zed. The ta x col lectors, prost it utes a nd t he poor were not some a f ter t houg ht but were cent ra l to how he lived t he Gospel. To Jesus, it wasn’t enoug h to just not be one of t he stone t h rowers, he requ ired t he act ive prevent ion of stones f rom being cast.

To be completely a nd tota l ly honest, I have not a lways u nderstood d rag as a n a r t for m or t he h istor y beh ind it. I have not a lways been com for table w it h t he subversion of gender a nd have st r ugg led w it h such per for ma nces in t he ways t hey interact w it h Chu rch teach ings on gender.

But I have cha nged my opin ion a nd t houg hts t h roug h ex posu re to new ev idence wh ich, f u nda menta l ly, is what t h is mora l pa n ic is about: r ig ht-w ing act iv ists wa nt to const r ict ou r empat hy for one a not her t h roug h t he den ia l of new ev idence.

E x pla in ing my love a nd adorat ion for t he Cat holic fa it h is d if f icu lt to ex pla in to peers in t he LGBTQ + com mu n it y. So of ten t hey see t he w icked ness of a fa it h weapon i zed aga inst t hem. They see a Cat holic Chu rch u nw i l ling to pa r t icipate in d ia log ue, u nw i l ling to hea r t he cr ies of t he ma rg ina li zed or u nw i l ling to let t hem feel com for table in t heir ow n sk in.

To be fa ir, t here a re rea l quest ions

a rou nd topics li ke t he impact of ea rly a nd adolescent gender-a ff ir m ing ca re, t ra nsgender pa r t icipat ion in at h let ics a nd gender a nd d rag w it h in t he Cat holic Chu rch.

However, as long as t hose conversat ions a re done in bad fa it h, in dehu ma n i zing la ng uage or in t he for m of 12,000 ema i ls f u l l of deat h t h reats, t here is simply no space to tack le t hose leg it imate u na nswered quest ions.

A l l a rou nd Not re Da me, I see so much beaut if ic k ind ness : people who wou ld d rop a ny t h ing to help you w it h a f lat t ire, who wou ld pick up you r book s when you d rop t hem or ta ke t he t ime to have a conversat ion w it h you about you r day in t he checkout line. K ind ness li ke t hat is ha rd to come by in my hometow n of Seatt le. However, br itt le cr uelt y u nderg irds t hat beaut if ic k ind ness is a br itt le cr uelt y. For a n LGBTQ + st udent, ma ny of t hose sa me people who wou ld do a ny t h ing to help you, f ig ht aga inst you r ver y r ig ht to ex ist.

“Notre Dame, we have a choice.”

Not re Da me, we have a choice. We may not be my g ra nd fat her, pu rsing h is lips a nd sla m m ing t he door.

Worse, we ca n act as t he h inges on t he door t hat lets conser vat ive act iv ists sla m t he door on ou r siblings a nd fa m i ly members. Or we ca n wa l k in t he exa mple of Jesus, open t he door a nd embrace ou r com mu n it y.

Dane Sherman is a junior at Notre Dame studying American Studies, peace studies, philosophy, and gender studies.

Dane enjoys good company, good books, good food and talking about faith in public life. Outside of The Observer, Dane can be found exploring Erasmus books with friends, researching philosophy, with folks from Prism, reading NYTs op-eds from David Brooks/Ezra Klein/Michelle Goldberg or at the Purple Porch getting some food. Dane ALWAYS wants to chat and can be reached at @danesherm on twitter or lsherma2@nd.edu.

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

8

SPORTS

THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

ND WOMEN’S SOCCER

Irish fall 3-2 to Clemson in ACC Semifinals

By NOAH CAHILL Sports Writer

The Notre Dame women’s soccer team capped off an outstanding season with a statement win against the Clemson Tigers that secured them the No. 2 seed and a bye for the ACC Tournament. However, after not playing a single match for an entire week, they were set for a rematch with the Tigers in the ACC Tournament semifinal.

Mackenzie Duff’s secondminute goal for Clemson was enough in a 1-0 first-round victory over Wake Forest, setting up the much-anticipated rematch with the Irish. Amid tournament action, United Soccer Coaches released an official Top 25 placing Clemson 7th and Notre Dame 9th, adding to the drama ahead of the NCAA tournament, where the final position in the rankings can impact how many rounds a team may host.

The match did not disappoint. In an end-to-end thriller,

the Tigers got their revenge, defeating the Irish 3-2 and advancing to the ACC Tournament final. After a flurry of chances to start the first half, Clemson took the lead through Megan Bornkamp’s header in the 22nd minute. A third-team All-ACC honoree, Bornkamp has been a big part of Clemson’s attack and notched her third goal of the season in a big moment.

The Irish would grow into the game and create more chances throughout the half, but went into halftime trailing 1-0.

However, a Maddie Mercado stunner from about 25 yards out leveled the score at 1-1 early in the second half. It was the eighth goal of a very successful season for the graduate student forward. Clemson answered back three minutes later when Tatum Short scored with the help of a deflection. Short has been one of the standout freshmen for Clemson, earning a spot on the ACC all-freshman team.

The goal was Short’s third goal of the season. Clemson doubled

their lead when substitute Maria Manousos was brought down in the box by Irish midfielder Sophia Fisher. Caroline Conti, a third-team All-ACC selection, subsequently fired home the penalty into the top left corner to give Clemson a 3-1 lead with 25 minutes remaining.

The remainder of the half was all Notre Dame. After some brilliant buildup play, ACC all-freshman team selection Morgan Roy slotted one home to cut the deficit to one.

A dominant run full of chances followed, none better than the two that fell to Irish forward Kiki Van Zanten. After a prolific season scoring six goals and providing three assists to earn a first-team All-ACC selection, Van Zanten is exactly who Notre Dame would have wanted in front of goal. Unfortunately for Van Zanten and the Irish, the chances went begging and the comeback fell short.

INDIA DOERR | The Observer

Contact Noah Cahill at ncahill@nd.edu

Irish freshman midfielder Morgan Roy moves up during Notre Dame’s 3-1 win over Boston College. Roy scored Thursday against Clemson.

HCC BASKETBALL

Saints begin another season on the hardwood

By TOM ZWILLER Senior Sports Writer

Both of Holy Cross’ basketball teams are off to a strong start this season. Men’s and women’s basketball each won their opening games for the second time in as many years. Here’s the outlook on both teams seasons as their respective campaigns get underway.,

Holy Cross Men’s Team The Holy Cross College Men’s Basketball team officially kicked off its season this week when they hosted East West University. As expected, the Saints handled the Phantoms with ease, winning 84-64.

While the team is trying to move on from the losses of last year’s seniors — Beau Ludwick, Jalen Martin, Ryan Cartaino and Mick Sullivan — the team is in good hands.

Sophomore standout Tommy Snyder led the way with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double. Junior guards Justin O’Neal and Nash Hostetler combined for 27 points, and sophomore guard Phil Robles II went 4-7 from beyond the arc.

Snyder will look to build on his breakout freshman season, where he played 28 total games, averaging 20.3 points and 8.6 rebounds on 60% shooting from the floor. His performance earned him recognition from the CCAC, as the freshman made both the All-Conference First Team and All-Freshman team.

Joining him on last year’s AllFreshman Team was Phil Robles II, who was a high-volume three-point shooter. Robles II took almost 150

three-point shots and converted 36.6%, which helped him average 12 points per game.

The team also has strong leadership, with juniors Justin O’Neal and Nash Hostetler looking to step up the team’s leaders. The two Ohio natives have played in a combined 118 games as Saints and started in 81 of those contests.

Hostetler logged the second most minutes of any Saint last year (845), or roughly 30 per game, trailing only Ludwick. In those 845 minutes, he scored 283 points and logged 30 steals.

O’Neal had a shooting percentage of 39.1 and contributed 5.6 points per game while averaging 2.8 assists per game.

Also getting the start in Tuesday’s contest against the Phantoms was sophomore guard A.J. Roseman.

Roseman played limited minutes in his freshman campaign but had a strong performance in his first start, contributing seven rebounds, a steal and three assists.

Also getting significant playing time against East-West: junior guard Greg Wells, sophomore guard Drew Adzia, senior guard Isaiah Cabrera and junior forward Jordan Montrose.

The Saints struggled to make the postseason last year after a 2-6 start in conference play had the Saints out of the playoff picture. The team rallied back in December, going 5-3 in conference play and clinching the final conference tournament berth after a double overtime win against St. Ambrose and a road win against Trinity International.

After their win against East-West University, Holy Cross will host

Goshen College on Nov. 8 and then the Moody Bible Institute Team.

The team’s biggest preseason test will be when they face the Bethel University team on Nov. 15 in a neutral site contest. The Saints are 1-17 all-time against the Pilots and lost last year 55-80.

After Bethel, it’s on to CCAC play.

Holly Cross Women’s Team While the men’s team spent much of last year going through an up-and-down season, the Holy Cross women’s team had the most successful season in program history. The team finished their regular season 16-12 with a conference record of 11-9.

Though the team lost the first round of the CCAC playoffs, the season was an unquestionable success and something the program will look to build on this year.

The good news for the program is that it lost just one upperclassman, senior guard Jayda Miller. Miller was a key figure for the team, starting in 25 games and averaging 25 minutes per game. However, the team has a deep roster of upperclassmen to help fill the void left behind.

The team’s two seniors are guard Lauren Morris and senior forward Neva Longhofer. Morris was one of the team’s better volume threepoint shooters, making above 30% of her 93 attempts last year, averaging eight points per game.

In addition, Morris is a solid defender, averaging two steals per game. Longhofer, while starting

less than other returning players, played in all 29 games for an average of 15 minutes per game.

The Saints’ two star players, however, are juniors Grace Adams and Jordyn Smith. Last season, head coach Tom Robbins called Adams “one of the top players in the conference.”

Adams started in all 29 games for the Saints and averaged 31.6 minutes per game, behind only Jordyn Smith. Adams averaged nearly a double-double a game, 15.4 points and 9.4 rebounds. She was also the only player to average a block per game.

Robbins also called Smith “one of the perennial point guards in the league as well.”

Smith is the team’s best returning three-point shooter, making 31.4% of her attempts. She was also a standout free throw shooter, scoring 74.8% of her attempts from the line.

Sophomore Carly Spradling had a strong freshman campaign last year, starting in 23 of 29 games. She boasted a substantial shooting percentage from the floor, going 80-183 (43.7%).

Also expected to play significant minutes for the Saints are sophomore guard Kayliana Hammel and sophomore forward Elizabeth Edmonds.

The team also adds four new freshmen: guards Aneisah Gail, Jadyn Handley, Lilly Toppen and forward Brooke Lindesmith.

The team began its season last

Saturday with a convincing home win against Huntington, 81-69.

Morris and Adams led the way, scoring 21 and 29 points respectively. Adams had a particularly dominant night, adding 12 rebounds and four blocks.

Hammel contributed 13 points on six of nine shooting and added seven rebounds of her own.

The team now turns its attention to the Benedictine Classic, where they will play two games in two days, both in Atchinson, Kansas.

On Nov. 3, they take on Benedictine College at 8:30 p.m EST. The next day, they face Baker University at 2 p.m.

When the team returns, they will have a few days rest before facing the Bethel University Pilots on Nov. 8. They’ll then close out their non-conference schedule against IU Kokomo on Nov. 11 and Goshen on Nov. 14.

This could be a rough slate of games for the Saints. Their second true home game (they technically are home for one of the Benedictine Classic games) isn’t until Nov. 29, when they face IU South Bend. That means the team will have gone over a month without playing at home.

That stretch of road games might make it hard for the team to match last season’s win total, but it is a chance for the program to demonstrate how much it has grown in the previous year.

Contact Tom Zwiller at tzwiller@hcc-nd.edu

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HOROSCOPE | EUGENIA LAST Happy Birthday: Pay it forward. The more you are willing to do, the more you’ll get back. Live in the moment, embrace change and enjoy the ride. It’s time to exercise knowledge, experience and ingenuity to reach your objective. Take the steps necessary to ensure you fulfill your expectations and reach the pinnacle of your aspirations. Explore your options and exercise your rights. Your numbers are 9, 14, 23, 28, 34, 38, 46.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Pay it forward. The more you are willing to do, the more you’ll get back. Live in the moment, embrace change and enjoy the ride. It’s time to exercise knowledge, experience and ingenuity to reach your objective. Take the steps necessary to ensure you fulfill your expectations and reach the pinnacle of your aspirations. Explore your options and exercise your rights. Your numbers are 9, 14, 23, 28, 34, 38, 46.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Align yourself with friends and family. Share your thoughts and feelings, and you’ll get meaningful feedback. An unexpected opportunity will give you something to consider. A physical change will boost your ego and give you the confidence to do your own thing.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Don’t judge others, or you’ll face similar circumstances.

Bide your time, do your best to keep the peace and don’t make impossible promises.

Say less, do more and eliminate an awkward or vulnerable situation. The truth will determine your destiny.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Let your imagination run wild and your ideas infiltrate your plans today. How you relate to others and your insight will increase your profile and turn you into the go-to person. Your compassion will change how others feel about you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Collect your thoughts and micromanage your plan. There is no room for error or sloppy presentations. If you don’t have everything in order, you are better off aborting your plan. You can expect to face opposition if you want to change or control situations.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Don’t be shy; call the shots and make things happen. Speak up and share your intentions, and the input you receive will help you strategize your next move. You have everything to gain if you believe in yourself and are willing to act fast.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Refuse to let anyone play with your emotions. Set high standards and make your position clear. If you give someone the upper hand, they will take advantage of you. Protect your home, heart and reputation. Use charm as a means of persuasion.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Talk to experts, get the lowdown and develop a strategy that promotes what you want to explore. The option to work alongside someone who understands your vision will up the ante and encourage you to go above and beyond the call of duty.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Pay attention to cash flow. It’s OK to help others, but don’t leave yourself short. Think outside the box to devise a plan that will lower your overhead. Invest time and money in keeping your skills and knowledge marketable with trends.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A positive change is within reach. Consider what’s important to you and how much you can achieve. Take control, and bring about changes that offer significant opportunities to use your skills and experience to improve your lifestyle, meaningful relationships and emotional well-being.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Focus on learning, self-improvement and opportunities that align with your dreams. Put a plan and timeline in place, and don’t stop until you reach your goal. Refuse to let temptation or what others choose to do stand between you and your objective.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Plan to have fun. Socialize, participate in an event, attend a reunion or invest time and money in yourself. Don’t wait for things to come to you; create opportunities that give you hope for a better future. Turn your attributes into a lucrative lifestyle.

Birthday Baby: You are mysterious, engaging and unprecedented. You are disciplined and courageous.

SUDOKU | THE MEPHAM GROUP

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SPORTS

THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

FOOTBALL COLUMN

KEYS TO VICTORY

Sánchez Córdova: A season of ‘what ifs’ Jose Sanchez Cordova Assistant Managing Editor

Watching Notre Dame football’s last two games, it’s easy to say that this year’s team is really, really good.

Especially on defense, this team has looked like a national championship-level team. Unfortunately, they have lost two games, which, in the final year of the four-team playoff, means Notre Dame’s title drought will last another year.

It’s a disappointing result for a year that started with so much promise. Through four games, Notre Dame was averaging more than 40 points-per-game while holding opponents to under 12 points-per-game. Transfer quarterback Sam Hartman brought a new kind of confidence and swagger that Notre Dame had been missing for a while. It looked good for Marcus Freeman and the Irish until now-No. 1 Ohio State came to town.

That first loss against Ohio State sucked. The Irish were the better team for a large majority of the contest, and it’s a game they probably should have won. They very well might have beaten the Buckeyes if only they’d had 11 guys on the field for the final two plays. It’s the

Mickey CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

[Morrison and Hart] at practice,” said Mickey. “Me and [freshman cornerback] Christian [Gray], we’re ready, because any play can happen. But you know, praying for Cam and Ben to get back out there, but you know, I think me and Christian did a good job at trying to hold it down today, and, it was good, it was fun.”

The play that did happen that Mickey will remember most came early in the third corner. The Irish brought pressure on a third and four from the Pitt 41, forcing Veilleux to rush his through. Mickey dropped back towards the sideline at first, making the sophomore quarterback think he would stay on Daejon Reynolds. Instead, he crept forward, accelerating as Veilleux’s pass drifted behind the back shoulder of Konata Mumpfield.

Before that play, the only stat category Mickey had filled in his first

CFP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

Dame could potentially sneak ahead of the loser (in my projections model, that would be Washington). So, while, yes, I think the Irish are likely to finish in the top 10, I think replicating Penn State’s achievement of making it to seventh is a little unlikely.

biggest “what if” of the year. But even earlier on that final drive, you get another one, what if DJ Brown had held on to that potential gamesealing interception? It was painful, but ultimately, losing to a team like Ohio State isn’t terrible. They are a very talented team and they have a great resume. A loss to Ohio State doesn’t disqualify you from playoff contention.

It’s the Louisville loss that’s going to sting for a while. After demolishing Pitt last weekend, it’s hard to imagine that now-No. 13 Louisville lost to that hapless Panthers team that came to campus last Saturday.

It’s a tough loss because there’s no doubt in my mind that Notre Dame is a better football team than Louisville. It just so happened that we played them on the road in primetime after two very emotionally taxing games against Ohio State and Duke. Notre Dame was their biggest game of the year, and they showed up for it. Notre Dame showed up tired and they paid the price.

As it stands, Notre Dame just has to hope they can find their way into a New Year’s Six bowl game.

Beating Clemson this weekend in Death Valley would go a long way toward that goal. Sure, it’s not the matchup many envisioned at the start of the year when Clemson

was ranked No. 9 in the country.

Now, it’s a noon kickoff against a 4-4 Tigers team. After that they play two subpar teams in Wake Forest and Stanford. Finishing with a 10-2 record is pretty good for a secondyear head coach. Coming into the year, many Irish fans probably would have taken that given the difficult schedule and the tumultuous 2022 season. It’s the way it has played out that makes it more difficult to swallow.

This year’s losses will always carry a “what if” kind of feeling for Notre Dame. All things staying the same, what if they had beat Louisville? Would they be up there with Oregon and Texas as one of the elite one-loss teams? They would almost certainly still be in contention for the College Football Playoff if a few things went their way. What if they had hung on and beat Ohio State? Might they still be undefeated? Who knows because unfortunately, that’s not the world we’re living in. That’s the reason why the “what ifs” are going to haunt this Irish football season.

19 collegiate games was the tackle department. He added a one underneath the interception column as he caught the pass in stride, then tacked on six points six seconds later when he crossed the goal-line untouched.

“He’s a great example of one play, one life,” Freeman said. “So if you look at the first — what game is this? Nine. You look at the first eight games, and he didn’t know how much he’s going to play. He’s rotating in there. Take advantage of that play. Today he’s in a starting role. Take advantage of those opportunities, which he did.”

Mickey had always envisioned this moment for reasons far beyond himself. His mother, Nilka, is battling cancer. Tyler James of Inside ND Sports reported that she has decided to end chemotherapy and has entered hospice care. Mickey’s work on and off the field has been focused on helping his mom and making her proud. His pinned Tweet shows a book he published in March entitled “The Win Isn’t Always On the Scoreboard.” All of

the profits from the book go to help his mother. As he raced into the end zone for his collegiate touchdown, she and his father Lamar were the only things on his mind.

“That’s all I was thinking about.

I was just picturing my mom and my dad yelling in the living room,” Mickey said. “My mom got it, my mom got to see this, so, happy it happened today.”

The start to Mickey’s college career may not have been the dream straightforward path to stardom. But he arrived in full force on Saturday, also registering two tackles and a pass breakup. It may have taken some time. But it was always coming, and now it’s here for all to enjoy.

“I’m really pleased with how he performed, how he [has been] practicing, how unselfish he is,” Freeman said. “I love Jaden Mickey, man, he’s a great player and doing great things for us.”

Optimistically,IthinkNotreDame can make it to ninth, and realistically, they can make it to tenth.

Should Notre Dame lose to Clemson, I think they might repeat the 2019 team’s path and stay flat at No. 15, maybe at best sneaking up to No. 13.

And keep in mind that this would just be their CFP ranking. There is a decent chance that with a

bowl game, Notre Dame could get into seventh in the AP Poll.

After finishing last year at No. 18 and 9-4 and starting this year at No. 13, a top-10 11-2, 10-3 finish would show that the program is improving under head coach Marcus Freeman.

Contact José Sánchez Córdova at jsanch24@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

Contact Tom Zwiller at tzwiller@hcc-nd.edu

Keys to victory: ND vs. Clemson

By J.J. POST Associate Sports Editor

Notre Dame’s season has reached the home stretch. Just three more games remain. That means the Irish only have three more chances to prove why they should earn a top-ten ranking and a New Year’s Six bowl bid.

The most difficult of those final three contests will all but certainly be this Saturday’s showdown against Clemson, a squad stocked with talent but reeling after consecutive upset defeats.

Notre Dame’s status as favorites on the road this weekend has grown more and more assured as the season has gone on. But now it’s time for the Irish to prove the current line of -3, adjusted from -1 earlier in the month and plus odds earlier in the year, isn’t a fluke. Here are three keys the Irish need to capitalize on in order to take down the Tigers.

1. Win the turnover battle … emphatically Clemson has turned the ball over 15 times this year and has had at least one in every game. It’s been maybe the most damning problem on an offense that can’t seem to get out of second gear.

Notre Dame, on the other hand, in particular thanks to the explosion of senior Xavier Watts at safety, has been one of the nation’s best teams at forcing turnovers.

The Irish defense has forced 18 this year, good for a tie for third in the nation.

Notre Dame’s offense has had its struggles, but the visibility of such struggles can be muted a fair deal if the Irish are constantly working with a short field.

Consistently forcing turnovers

will not just help establish momentum in what’s set to be a tough road environment, but they’ll also help set the offense up for success in a difficult matchup against a still-stout Clemson defense.

2. Stay ahead of schedule on offense Over the first few weeks of the season Notre Dame’s calling card on offense was efficiency. The Irish didn’t hit a lot of “home run” plays, but they did reliably move the chains when called upon.

Over the middle portion of the season though, Notre Dame’s offense has seemed to have lost some of its mojo. That lost mojo coming against some of the better defenses the unit has matched up against probably isn’t a coincidence either.

A mostly young and still largely unproven receiver room is probably never going to be a consistent source of 60-plus-yard gamebreaking plays. But the run game does have the personnel to be an effective unit and has done just that in essentially all of the Irish’s best performances this year. If Notre Dame wants to put away Clemson and avoid late drama, a heavy dose of efficient first-down runs to put the offense in more manageable second and third situations would go a long way.

3. Throw out Clemson’s resume At this point in the season, it’s increasingly easy to write off the Tigers. Clemson has scraped their way through this season.

Their four losses are already the most the program has had in a

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SPORTS

NDSMCOBSERVER.COM | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023 | THE OBSERVER

HOCKEY

Irish begin conference play

By RYAN MURPHY Sports Writer

As the only team in the Big Ten not ranked in the top 20 of the latest USCHO.com poll, the Irish are on the precipice of taking up a gauntlet. Between now and Christmas, Notre Dame will face off in 11 games against six consecutive ranked opponents, five of which are B1G foes.

The challenge of conference play begins this weekend when the Irish travel to State College, Pennsylvania, for a two-game series against No. 17 Penn State.

“I don’t know how it’s going to play out,” Irish head coach Jeff Jackson said after last Friday’s win over Mercyhurst. “It’s going to be a battle, every weekend and every game. It’s been like that all along [in the B1G], but now it’s even going to be probably more intense.”

Notre Dame cannot control the strength of their conference opponents, but it can control its own play, which is trending up at the moment.

The Irish are looking to build momentum after completing a sweep of Mercyhurst on Friday night.

Notre Dame scored a 4-3 overtime victory over the Lakers on Thursday before graduate student goaltender Ryan Bischel posted a 5-0 shutout for the Irish in the series finale.

If there’s one area in which Notre Dame hopes to grow this weekend, it’s in the consistency of that strong play. The Irish outshot Mercyhurst 54-27 on Thursday and 37-33 on Friday. Not always in hockey do the shot totals indicate the strength of a team’s play. But in this series, they did, as Notre Dame looked even more dominant on Thursday than in portions of Friday’s game, despite the score.

“I’d just like to see more consistency,” Jackson said in a press conference Wednesday. “Our young guys are learning how to play college hockey back to back, and I think, if anything, we’ve had a drop-off in the second night of a two-game series. For me, I think a big part of that is just gaining experience and confidence playing in back-to-back situations.”

The Irish are still waiting for a number of snakebitten skaters to break out this season. While senior forward and team captain Landon Slaggert has gotten off to a blazing-hot start — his seven goals in seven games are tied for second nationally — no other Notre Dame player has more than two goals.

Graduate student forward Trevor Janicke came through with his first of the year in Thursday’s win, and it would be a major boost for the Irish

if some of his fellow upperclassmen could do the same this weekend.

“All-in-all, I’ve been pretty pleased with the older guys,” Jackson said. “It’s just I’d like to hope we’ll get more production out of them from an offensive perspective as time goes on.”

In the Nittany Lions, Notre Dame will face a team searching for a rebound. Everything seemed to be coming up positive for Penn State to start the season, as they got off to a perfect 4-0-0 start. Lately, though, the Nittany Lions have dropped two of their last three games, allowing six goals in both losses.

Last Friday night, Penn State allowed a series sweep to slip through their fingers in a 6-5 loss to Alaska Anchorage on home ice. Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky called his team out in the postgame, saying that the Nittany Lions played “dishonest” and were “cheating [the game],” according to the Daily Collegian.

More specifically, the issue seems to have been players taking extensive shifts.

“We were taking long shifts,” Nittany Lions senior forward Christian Sarlo told the Collegian.

“Not changing in the right spots, which might not seem important in the moment, but as it PAID ADVERTISEMENT

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Keys CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

stacks up as the game goes on, you start to lose more battles.”

Despite Penn State’s recent difficulties, Notre Dame knows they will face a unique challenge against the Nittany Lions. No other team in college hockey plays quite like Penn State, who shoots from anywhere and everywhere.

“Their game doesn’t change.

[Penn State head coach] Guy [Gadowsky], his teams play for shot volume,” Jackson said.

“They’re a good transition team.

They shoot the puck from every angle everywhere on the ice, and their game’s about getting the rebounds and puck recoveries and getting second and third-shot opportunities. And that’s where they become really challenging.”

In addition, Notre Dame may have to handle Penn State’s chaos while short-staffed on defense.

Senior defenseman Jake Boltmann and sophomore defenseman Michael Mastrodomenico were held out of last week’s series against Mercyhurst. Both are day-to-day, and Jackson told the media that the team will likely not know until Thursday afternoon whether either can travel to Penn State.

season since 2011. A loss to Notre Dame would drop the Tigers to 4-5, in peril of potentially just their second-ever losing season under Dabo Swinney.

Simply put, Clemson just doesn’t look the same this year. There’s a reason Saturday’s contest moved from a projected primetime kickoff to a 12 p.m. matinee.

But this is also a Clemson team that doesn’t lack talent and will undoubtedly be playing with a chip on their shoulder. Just last season, it was the Irish whose dominant 35-14 victory effectively ended any hopes of the Tigers (who to that point had been undefeated) making the College Football Playoff. Swinney will undoubtedly make sure his team remembers that loss. Memorial Stadium remains one of the toughest places to play in the sport, even at noon.

The Irish won’t win on Saturday if they take the field expecting anything less than a dogfight.

Contact Ryan Murphy at rmurph@nd.edu

Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu

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THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

FOOTBALL FEATURE

Jaden Mickey’s interception return counted for so much more than six points

By ANDREW McGUINNESS Sports Editor

ARIANNA DENNING | The Observer

Irish sophomore cornerback Jaden Mickey runs back a pick-six in Notre Dame’s 58-7 over Pitt. It was his first career college touchdown.

Last Saturday, about 2,000 miles from Notre Dame Stadium, Nilka Mickey pressed send at 5:52 p.m ET. There is no prouder moment for a parent than watching their child succeed, especially when they overcome roadblocks to do so. “Proud moment!” her Tweet read, garnering over 2,000 likes and even more good feelings. The sophomore cornerback’s pick-six of Pitt’s Christian Veilleux erased any faint hopes of a Panthers comeback in what turned out to be a 58-7 Irish rout, solidifying that Notre Dame is back on the right path following midseason heartbreakers against Ohio State and Louisville.

Mickey’s journey to this moment wasn’t linear, simple or easy. But that made the 43-yard sprint down the right hash marks even sweeter.

Mickey arrived on campus two summers ago with high expectations and bubbling pressure. The Irish secondary was a concern heading into the 2022 season. Mickey, arriving in South Bend from Eastvale,

California, was Notre Dame’s highest-rated recruit at defensive back.

He racked up countless accolades at Centennial High School. And even though he was a defender, Mickey was no stranger to scoring. Two of his six interceptions as a sophomore were pick-sixes. In his senior year, he took a pair of kick-offs to the house.

Sure enough, a freshman cornerback grabbed headlines during the 2022 season for his incredible play, culminating with a two-interception game against No. 3 Clemson that included a 96-yard pick-six.

But those accomplishments belonged to Benjamin Morrison, a fellow four-star recruit who rapidly rose on Notre Dame’s depth chart in a way few first-years do. Mickey, meanwhile, had a more typical year-one experience. He played quite a bit for a freshman with some good and some bad mixed in.

His most notable moment, though, was being left on the island C.J. Stroud exploited on the ill-fated double-safety blitz that led to the game-winning touchdown in Notre Dame’s 2022 Week 1 loss to Ohio State. It was not fair

or indicative of Mickey’s performance for that to be the defining moment of his Irish career before last Saturday. He had been close to making big plays before, but they remained just out of his grasp.

“One play, one life,” Mickey said when asked about those nearmisses. “You know, come back with the same mentality. This week, we watched the clip of Marshawn Lynch — over and over and over and over and over, and over again, and over again. So that was the mentality every time I stepped up on the field, every play, and it finally happened.”

The opportunity was there for him against Pitt. Injuries to Morrison and senior cornerback Cam Hart opened the door for Mickey to make his second collegiate start. It would have been easy for frustration and resentment to build in Mickey as the spotlight shined on them and others during the early stages of his Irish career.

But their relationship goes beyond points and playing time.

“It’s always fun competing with see MICKEY PAGE 10

FOOTBALL BOWL PROSPECTS

Where can Notre Dame finish in CFP?

By TOM ZWILLER Senior Sports Writer

On Tuesday, the CFP Ratings were released live on ESPN. And, as the rankings came in, Notre Dame fans saw their team ranked 15th overall, three spots lower than the team’s AP Poll ranking.

Quite honestly, I don’t disagree too much with the ranking. At No. 15, the Irish are the second-best two-loss team, just behind LSU. LSU has a better win in No. 12 Missouri than Notre Dame’s win over No. 20 USC. And the Tigers’ losses (No. 4 Florida State and No. 10 Ole Miss) are a bit better than Notre Dame’s losses to No.1 Ohio State and now-unranked Duke.

So, instead of trying to debate why Notre Dame should be, at best, a spot higher than they are, I thought it would be interesting to see how teams who began 15th in prior CFP polls finished out their season and see where Notre Dame could finish this year.

We are now in the 10th edition of the four-team CFP, meaning that nine teams can offer us a clue of where Notre Dame might finish in the final CFP Poll.

Starting in 2022 and moving backward: Penn State (6-2), BYU (7-2), Oregon (3-0), Notre Dame

(6-2), Utah (6-2), Iowa State (62) Colorado (6-2), Oklahoma (7-1) and Nebraska (7-1).

Of those nine teams, only two finished the year unranked: the 2017 Iowa State team, who finished 8-5, and the 2014 Nebraska team, who finished 9-4.

Including our two dropout teams, five teams saw their final ranking lower than their initial ranking. In 2021, BYU finished No. 19 (10-2). The year prior, Oregon finished their COVID-shortened season 4-2 and fell to No. 25.

And in 2018, Utah fell to No. 17 as they finished 9-4 on the year.

Three teams saw their ranking improve. Last year’s Penn State team finished No. 11, and 2016’s Colorado team finished No. 10.

The best No. 15 in the history of the CFP is the 2015 Oklahoma team, who finished in the top 4.

The only team to maintain their initial ranking? The 2019 Notre Dame team that finished 10-2.

The first place to start is projecting how Notre Dame can actually finish out this season.

I don’t foresee an Iowa State or Nebraska finish in store for the Irish. Clemson will be a difficult opponent, and the Clemson defense can give a sluggish Irish offense some fits. But assuming

Notre Dame can handle the Tigers, they should beat Wake Forest and Stanford to end the year 10-2.

That puts the Irish in good company, as all the teams who finished higher than 15 had a minimum of 10 wins.

Based on the historical data, I think the absolute ceiling for Notre Dame is No. 7 I know Oklahoma made its way into the CFP, but that Oklahoma team finished as an 11-1 Big 12 Champion. 2015 was before the Big 12 restored its Conference Championship game, giving Oklahoma a critical advantage.

So, can the Irish make the seventh spot? Here is what would have to happen.

First, there are two big SEC games this weekend.

No. 12 Missouri @ No. 2 Georgia The next stepping stone would be a loss by Missouri. The Tigers currently sit at 12 with a loss to LSU, but a loss to Georgia and then No. 17 Tennessee a week later could send them right out of the rankings.

No. 10 Ole Miss @ No. 2 Georgia Right around the time that Missouri would be losing to Tennessee, an Ole Miss loss to Georgia would help Notre Dame’s stock improve.

Ole Miss would now be a twoloss team whose best win comes against a lower-ranked LSU squad. With two games remaining against unranked teams, the Rebels would likely struggle to improve their ranking.

No. 14 LSU @ No. 8 Alabama The first big thing that needs to happen is Alabama knocking off the LSU Tigers. The Tigers are one spot above the Irish, but a third loss combined with their porous defense might drop them back into the high teens.

This likely means that Alabama would finish out their season 11-1, and they would face Georgia in the SEC Championship game.

No. 3 Michigan @ No. 11 Penn State Something that could really hurt Notre Dame’s chances of making it into the seventh spot would be a Penn State victory over Michigan. In all likelihood, it would keep both teams in the top 10 through the end of the year.

The best thing the Irish can hope for is a solid Michigan win, leaving Penn State

0-2 against top-25 teams. (Side note: Yes, I am asking you to root for Alabama and Michigan).

Conference Championship Weekend Based on present rankings and my own predictions for the remainder of the season, I have Texas and Oklahoma playing for the Big 12.

It would be in Notre Dame’s interest to see Oklahoma lose a rematch against the Longhorns. Texas has, for much of the season, looked like the better team, and quite honestly, people have lost a lot of faith in the Sooners after their loss to Kansas.

I think the SEC and ACC ultimately have little impact on Notre Dame’s final ranking.

I have a hard time seeing the Irish get ahead of a 2 loss against Louisville or Alabama.

The Pac-12, meanwhile, might be where Notre Dame can get ahead. Currently, ESPN’s FPI has No. 20 USC as a slight favorite to take down No. 5 Washington.

Not only would that boost Notre Dame’s resume, but it would also ensure that the Pac-12 champion is, at best, a one-loss team, meaning that Notre see CFP PAGE 10