PITTSBURGH — Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman didn’t want to hear it. Pat Narduzzi probably wasn’t worth listening to, anyway.

When the head coaches met at midfield for a perfunctory postgame handshake following a 37-15 Irish win on Saturday afternoon, Freeman brushed off Narduzzi as the Pittsburgh coach attempted to pull him in, possibly to explain his final timeout that helped set up a meaningless last-second touchdown for the Panthers. After making headlines this week by calling Saturday’s game anything but a must-win and wondering aloud whether Pittsburgh would be fine giving up 100 points, Narduzzi seemed adamant in keeping up appearances.

“I wanted to go celebrate,” Freeman said about the exchange, although the smirk as he spoke told more. “To each their own, you know what I mean? I don’t ever comment on another program, but also I don’t have time to think about that. Like if they call the timeout, all right guys, let’s get them stopped, right?”

Marcus Freeman had other places to be. https://t.co/LO9uCRlZZ3

— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) November 15, 2025

Freeman has bigger items on his to-do list than stopping Pittsburgh backup quarterback Eli Holstein from throwing a touchdown pass against Notre Dame’s second-team defense on the game’s final snap. Maybe the Panthers are nothing more than another middling ACC program serving as cannon fodder on an Irish schedule without much luster. That’s fine. Because Notre Dame now feels like a program hitting its stride in November, just in time to make its case that it’s equipped for bigger things in December and January.

Saturday’s trip to Acrisure Stadium was supposed to be a potential trip wire for Notre Dame, facing an opponent on a five-game win streak with a freshman quarterback who looks like the program’s future and “College GameDay” visiting for the first time in 20 years. Pittsburgh retired the No. 97 jersey of Panthers legend Aaron Donald. So much about the proceedings felt like a trap, right up until Irish safety Adon Shuler lowered his shoulder into Pitt receiver Cataurus Hicks to force an incompletion on third down of Pitt’s opening drive.

Notre Dame delivered the first shot, and Pitt never recovered.

The Irish rolled from there, whether it was Malachi Fields catching jump balls, Tae Johnson producing a pick six, the defense finishing with four sacks or Jeremiyah Love going for 147 yards against a Pitt defense that entered the weekend as the nation’s best in yards allowed per carry (2.39). Love went for 56 all at once in the first half with a spin move that left Pitt’s defense grasping at nothing on his way to the end zone.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE☘️

THERE. HE. GOES. #GoIrish☘️ | @JeremiyahLove pic.twitter.com/C2cSTYLo2N

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) November 15, 2025

“Me personally, I feel like there was a little bit of, they didn’t respect us,” Love said. “They didn’t really talk about how aggressive we were as a team. They didn’t really talk about how much we were basically just dominators. That was a little bit disrespectful.

“Didn’t use it for motivation. I really could care less.”

Putting aside the inanity of poking a bear dressed as a leprechaun, the bloodless nature with which Notre Dame took care of business should be what sticks with Freeman most. This was a professional performance against an opponent who barely gave it the old college try. Notre Dame played violent football in a way Pittsburgh couldn’t handle. Love delivered the lead block on Carr’s five-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that finished off the Panthers, but when Love met Kavir Bains-Marquez in the hole, the senior defensive back wanted nothing to do with the contact.

Even as its head coach was calling timeout to save face, Pitt’s roster was making business decisions all over the field.

Notre Dame was hardly perfect. Carr threw two interceptions, including a ghastly pick six in the shadow of his own end zone. The field goal operation is still a massive question. But as much as Freeman will want to drill down on what went wrong, he also has to acknowledge what’s happening. Notre Dame is a football team on the rise as the season enters its final act. Process begets results, and results become trends. Enough time has passed since those season-opening losses to Miami and Texas A&M to see Notre Dame for the College Football Playoff team that it is. Regardless of what happens with Miami down the stretch. Whatever USC does or doesn’t do in November. No matter how the SEC race shakes out in its final weeks. Notre Dame may not have reached its full potential, but its momentum feels inexorable.

“I think sometimes you got to pull back and look at a quality win over a good opponent,” Freeman said. “It’s hard because you evaluate every single play. That’s why you say, we’re getting better, but we’re not perfect. You want to evaluate every single play, and you want plays that you don’t win. Why didn’t we win, and what do we gotta do to make sure that happens? And then over time, you look and say, ‘OK, this team is getting better. We’re getting better at executing at a higher level.’”

It’s easy to assume Notre Dame’s recovery act was inevitable. The Irish did it last year, losing to Northern Illinois in Week 2 before winning 10 straight regular season games to put themselves into the CFP. And this does feel similar, with the Irish moving toward another 10-game win streak to close the regular season, likely to win all 10 by double digits. (Saturday’s win pushed their Playoff odds to 98 percent, according to The Athletic’s projections.) Just like last season, nobody seems to get open against the Irish secondary. Just like last year, Love feels like a force of nature. Like last year, Freeman is pulling the strings.

But there’s an edge to this year’s team that feels different. Notre Dame doesn’t turn the other cheek, doesn’t mind talking back in class. Freeman seems to get energy from all that, too, something Narduzzi experienced postgame. Yes, the necessity of winning out is just as urgent this season as last year. But how Notre Dame is getting there feels more cutting than last season’s blunt force trauma.

“We’re really just getting started of playing Notre Dame football. We feel we can improve a lot more offensively,” Love said. “I don’t really say there’s any secret to it. We’ve just got great people in our program.”

No, Notre Dame doesn’t feel like a program that’s all that impressed with itself heading toward its home finale against Syracuse and a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Stanford. But maybe it should be. Every game for Notre Dame has been a “must-win” since mid-September. And it’s clear the Irish know how to handle their business, no handshake required.