SOUTH BEND — The only three losses for Notre Dame football over its past 26 games have been under the lights: Ohio State in the 2024 season College Football Playoff title game, Miami on the road in the 2025 opener and Texas A&M in last year’s home opener.
That recent history didn’t keep the Irish from scheduling four nighttime kickoffs out of seven designated home games for the 2026 regular season.
Starting on Sunday, Sept. 6 against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in the Shamrock Series, coach Marcus Freeman’s fifth edition will play at 7:30 p.m. The other night kickoffs will come against Michigan State (Sept. 19), Miami (Nov. 7) and Southern Methodist (Nov. 21).
The Irish also set 3:30 p.m. kickoffs for home games against Rice (Sept. 12), Stanford (Oct. 10) and Boston College (Nov. 14).
All seven home games are scheduled for NBC and Peacock. This will be the first year without a Peacock-only game since 2020.
Notre Dame has claimed Peacock-only home wins over Toledo (2021), UNLV (2022), Central Michigan (2023), Louisville (2024) and N.C. State (2025).
Notre Dame has won 15 of its past 18 nighttime games at Notre Dame Stadium, dating to 2017. The only stumbles came against Texas A&M (2025), Ohio State (2023) and Stanford (2022).
Single-game tickets go on sale Thursday, June 4.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football loads up on nighttime home kickoffs in 2026
Reporting by Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
