The Irish welcomed No. 1 Clemson to South Bend and went toe-to-toe with the mighty Tigers for four quarters and beyond. The game went into double-overtime, and it was Brian Kelly’s team that eventually emerged with a triumphant 47-40 victory. It’s a victory that firmly plants Notre Dame at the top of the College Football Playoff discussion with the likes of Alabama and Ohio State with the CFP selection committee’s first rankings just a few weeks away. 

The Irish jumped out to a 23-13 halftime lead, but the Tigers — playing their second straight game with freshman D.J. Uiagalelei at quarterback — staged yet another second-half comeback. With Uiagalelei at the center of it all, Clemson tied the score at 23-23 with a field goal and touchdown on its first two third-quarter drives. And after the teams traded field goals, Clemson finally took the lead via a three-yard Travis Etienne touchdown run with 3:33 to play. It was Clemson’s first lead of the game, but Notre Dame wouldn’t give in. 

Book hit Davis for 53 yards to set up first-and-goal, and then found Davis again on third-and-goal to send the game to overtime. The teams traded scores in the first extra session and the Irish quickly scored to open double-overtime. That’s when the Notre Dame defense finally decided it had enough. The Irish dialed up some pressure, and sacked Uiagalelei on both first and second down. Uiagalelei would complete the fourth-down throw, but well short of the chains. After a few laterals and some chaos, Notre Dame had sealed its biggest victory in years and snapped Clemson’s 36-game regular season winning streak. Once the game reached overtime, Notre Dame would pound the ball into the end zone twice with Williams. His score in double-overtime would end up being the game-winner.