SOUTH BEND – A year ago, Notre Dame lost early in the season, then reeled off 10 wins in a row, gathering steam as it went.

Following back-to-back victories over Purdue and Arkansas in which they have scored a combined 112 points, could the 21st-ranked Irish be on the verge of running off another long win streak?

Coach Marcus Freeman is just focused on extending the streak from two games to three when his team takes on Boise State (3-1) at Notre Dame Stadium today.

“You’re focused on staying in the moment,” Freeman said. “Let’s win this play. What do we have to do to win this play? When it’s over you go, ‘Man, we did a good job.’ And so that’s just the challenge, man, is to stay present, stay in the moment, improve, and hopefully we can look back and say we had a lot of momentum.”

The fourth-year head coach also knows what can happen if Notre Dame (2-2) does not stay focused on the short term. In Freeman’s first season, the Irish started 0-2. They found their footing and won three in a row, setting up a potential sprint to the finish line, only to faceplant in a shocking upset loss at home against a Stanford team that finished 3-9.

The Irish were 16 1/2-point favorites in that game. They are favored by 20 1/2 against the Broncos today.

Freeman’s message of consistent focus has resonated with his team.

“We’re feeling good, obviously, but we still have those two losses that are in the back of our minds and we’re going to use that as motivation to keep on going,” Irish wide receiver Jordan Faison said. “Nothing is guaranteed out here, no win is guaranteed and we have to work for every single one.”

Boise State comes into the game on a winning streak of its own, having reeled off three in a row since a season-opening 31-7 loss to South Florida. The Broncos are the second-winningest program in college football since 2000 and paid off their kings-of-the-Group-of-Five reputation last season with a trip to the College Football Playoff. There, they gave Penn State all it wanted for three quarters before falling in the quarterfinals at the Fiesta Bowl.

While Heisman Trophy runner-up running back Ashton Jeanty is gone from that team – he was the No. 6 overall pick in April’s NFL draft – the Broncos’ offense is still prolific. Coach Spencer Danielson’s team has averaged 49 points during its win streak, gaining at least 470 yards of total offense in all three games.

Boise State running back Dylan Riley has emerged as the heir apparent to Jeanty, gaining 8.6 yards per touch. He’ll be a priority for a Notre Dame defense that let Arkansas gain 6.6 sack-adjusted yards per carry last week as it focused on stopping passes over the top.

“We always want to stop the run,” Freeman said. “We have to understand that. We can’t always just put an extra guy in the box and blitz and do those types of things because you’ve got to protect against the pass, too. We’ve got to be gap sound. We’ve got to be aggressive, and we’ve got to tackle well because these running backs, if you miss them, they’ll go the distance.

“(The Broncos) do a lot of eye candy. What happens when you do those shifts and motions, you get one guy out of his gap and they have some really good running backs that can all make a 2-yard gain into a 10-yard gain.”

The game is the first-ever matchup between the teams, as was Notre Dame’s game against Arkansas.

The Irish will wear green jerseys in their semi-annual Irish Wear Green Game – Notre Dame is 6-1 in those games since 2018, including a 31-24 victory over No. 15 Louisville last season.

Injury report

The Irish expect to have preseason first-team All-American Leonard Moore back against the Broncos after he missed the last two games with a high-ankle sprain suffered against Texas A&M. It’s unlikely he will be at full strength, however.

“No matter what, I’m sure he won’t be 100%,” Freeman said Thursday. “It just takes time to heal that thing. But Leonard at less than 100% will help our defense. So if he continues to progress as we get through this week, I see him helping us on Saturday.”

If Moore cannot play a full complement of snaps, true freshman Mark Zackery IV will continue to fill in. Zackery gave up one catch for eight yards on four targets last week after getting burned a couple of times against Texas A&M and Purdue.

Notre Dame will be without starting receiver Jaden Greathouse, who suffered a thigh injury in practice this week, according to multiple reports. The injury is not expected to be a long-term issue.

Greathouse has four catches for 73 yards this season. Wisconsin transfer and captain Will Pauling could get more snaps with the junior shelved.