Looking ahead to what’s in store for Boston College football this weekend, head coach Bill O’Brien is well aware of the steep challenge the Eagles are up against in Notre Dame, head coach Marcus Freeman, and quarterback CJ Carr.

Since Carr took over as the starter last season as a sophomore, the Fighting Irish have gone 18-3, and they just took down the former No. 1 team in the country, Miami, this past weekend.

With 2,168 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and just one interception, Carr is currently leading the Heisman Trophy race, and the Saline, Mich., native projects to be a first-rounder in this upcoming NFL Draft.

Freeman, meanwhile, is one of the most talented coaches in all of college football at just 40 years old, and his ability to connect with his players is on a level that not many can speak to.

In last year’s “Holy War” matchup, the Eagles actually hung around with Notre Dame until they let up a 94-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to former running back Jeremiyah Love, who went fourth overall in the 2025 NFL Draft to the Arizona Cardinals, ultimately falling 25-10.

But this could arguably be an even better Fighting Irish squad than last year’s, and that centers around the year that Carr is having.

“Tough, tough,” O’Brien said of how you beat a player of Carr’s caliber. “I mean, it’s very tough. He’s a [professional] quarterback. He’s an excellent, excellent quarterback. A lot of respect for him, his family. I know the background of all of it. Just an incredible football family, and he’s a great player. And it’s going to be a big challenge.”

Carr has virtually all the tools as a pro-style quarterback, meaning one who does not use his legs very often.

His accuracy is off the charts, he can make throws to all parts of the field, he is a sound decision-maker with the ball, and most importantly, he is a stand-up person on and off the field.

“He’s obviously a great teammate,” O’Brien said. “He’s a captain. He’s a leader. He controls the game at the line of scrimmage, and, you know, we just got to do the best we can.”

Although BC’s defense has had its bumps throughout this season, most notably in the run game (see Duke and Florida State as prime examples), the Eagles have actually been decent against the pass, which is obviously what Notre Dame’s offense primarily filters through.

The Eagles have given up just 1,686 yards through the air this year, good for second in the ACC behind Duke, and they have the most interceptions in the conference with 12, which is also tied for seventh in the nation.

“We’re going to have to mix things up, do different things,” O’Brien said of how BC will approach this week’s matchup defensively.”

The player to key in on who is far and away Carr’s most-trusted target is wide receiver Jordan Faison, who is also a dangerous return man in the punt game.

Faison leads the Fighting Irish with 44 receptions for 574 yards and five touchdowns, and he has garnered 192 return yards on 12 attempts.

Junior Micah Gambert, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound wideout, played a key role in Notre Dame’s most-recent defeat of the Hurricanes, hauling in nine catches for 98 yards and a pair of scores. He is not far off from Faison in overall receiving totals with 528 yards and five touchdowns on 33 receptions for the year.

What was most impressive about the win against Miami, however, was limiting the Hurricanes’ high-powered offense, albeit without wide receiver Malachi Toney, another Heisman frontrunner, to just 24 points after they entered the game averaging 47.6 points per game.

That is a testament to the discipline Freeman, a former Ohio State linebacker who was the Fighting Irish linebackers coach before he was promoted to the lead role in 2021, has instilled in his players on that side of the ball.

“That’s why they elevated him to be a head coach, because he had a great care for the players and could really teach the players,” O’Brien said. “He had that balance of being really demanding, but also really caring about the players.”

With only 31 penalties this year, Notre Dame is tied with Temple as the third-least penalized team in the country, and teams are averaging a measly 251.9 yards of offense against the Fighting Irish, which is also good for third in FBS.

“Notre Dame's one of the best teams,” O’Brien said. “They just beat a great Miami [team]. One of the best teams in the country, same as they were last year. So it's a great challenge for us, but we're looking forward to it.”