As Notre Dame football faces Northern Illinois for the first time, here’s a look at how they’ve performed against other MAC teams in the past.
As an independent powerhouse that draws millions of viewers each week, Notre Dame enjoys the flexibility to schedule games with any team, anytime, anywhere.
In Week One, they took advantage of this by setting up a tough matchup against Texas A&M in SEC territory—a challenging way to kick off the season. However, they came out stronger for having faced it.
So, did they schedule another strong opponent in Week Two? Not exactly. This time, Notre Dame hosts Northern Illinois at South Bend—a team ranked 124th in the FPI at the start of the season.
When Northern Illinois visits Notre Dame on Saturday, it will mark the first meeting between the Irish and the Huskies. With no prior matchups to reflect on, let’s take a look at how Notre Dame has performed against other teams from Northern Illinois’ conference, the MAC.
Here’s a table summarizing the matchups:
| Team | Year | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Illinois Huskies | – | No previous meetings |
| Akron Zips | 1910 | Notre Dame 51 – Akron 0 |
| Ball State Cardinals | 2018 | Notre Dame 24 – Ball State 16 |
| Bowling Green Falcons | 2019 | Notre Dame 52 – Bowling Green 0 |
| Buffalo Bulls | – | No previous meetings |
| Central Michigan Chippewas | 2023 | Notre Dame 41 – Central Michigan 17 |
| Eastern Michigan Eagles | – | No previous meetings |
| Kent State Golden Flashes | – | No previous meetings |
| Miami (OH) Red Hawks | 1909 | Notre Dame 46 – Miami (OH) 0 |
| 2017 | Notre Dame 52 – Miami (OH) 17 | |
| Ohio Bobcats | – | No previous meetings |
| Toledo Rockets | 2021 | Notre Dame 32 – Toledo 29 |
| Western Michigan Broncos | 1919 | Notre Dame 53 – Western Michigan 0 |
| 1920 | Notre Dame 42 – Western Michigan 0 | |
| 2010 | Notre Dame 44 – Western Michigan 20 |
