In news that has been expected for a while now, it was announced Thursday that Notre Dame’s home opener against Texas is slated for a primetime kickoff. The Fighting Irish and Longhorns will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 5, on NBC.
NBC is slated to show a NASCAR Xfinity Series race from Darlington at 3:30 p.m. ET that same day, so an under-the-lights kick was the only feasible option.#NotreDame‘s season opener Sept. 5 against Texas will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
— JJ Stankevitz (@JJStankevitz) April 16, 2015
As our own J.J. Stankevitz notes, Notre Dame’s NBC contract calls for five primetime games over a rolling two-year period (including the Shamrock Series), so expect Irish’s Oct. 17 date with USC to get the primetime treatment as well.
While nothing has been formally announced yet, expect Texas-Notre Dame to be up against two of Arizona State-Texas A&M (from Houston), Wisconsin-Alabama (from Dallas) and Louisville-Auburn (from Atlanta).
Notre Dame and Texas have met 10 times previously with the Fighting Irish winning eight times. The two clubs, the Nos. 2 and 3 winningest programs in FBS history, last met on Sept. 21, 1996, a 27-24 Notre Dame triumph in Austin.