No. 4 Notre Dame rallies past Wisconsin 41-13 at Lambeau Field

No. 4 Notre Dame shook off a sluggish first half to beat Wisconsin 41-13 on Sunday night in the first college football game played at Lambeau Field since 2016, when the Badgers upset fifth-ranked LSU on the same frozen turf. This time it was Notre Dame delivering the rout, scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half after trailing by three points at the break.

Quarterback CJ Carr was efficient rather than explosive, completing 19 of 29 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns, including a 28-yard strike to Nolan James Jr. with less than two minutes remaining. The bigger story on offense was Aneyas Williams, who ground out 90 yards on the ground and scored twice, powering an Irish rushing attack that had managed just 29 yards on 16 carries before halftime.

Turnovers swing the game

The turning point arrived early in the third quarter, when cornerback D.J. McKinney intercepted a pass from Wisconsin quarterback Colton Joseph, an Old Dominion transfer, and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. A muffed kickoff return by Wisconsin's Hunter Bortollini handed Notre Dame another short field soon after, a pair of turnovers that Sports Illustrated's post-game analysis identified as the moment the game got away from the Badgers. Joseph still finished 19 of 30 for 217 yards, and receiver Malachi Coleman had four catches for 76 yards and a touchdown in his Wisconsin debut season. Wisconsin brought in 34 transfer-portal additions this offseason, a group with mixed early results Sunday: running back Abu Sama managed just 49 yards on 15 carries, while linebacker Mason Posa turned in a standout defensive outing with 15 tackles despite the lopsided final score.

Notre Dame's first touchdown carried a local flourish: tight end James Flanigan, a Green Bay native, hauled in a 3-yard scoring catch in a building where both his father and grandfather — each named Jim Flanigan — once played for the Packers.

A statement to open the season

The lopsided final score mattered less to Notre Dame than the manner of the win: a program still smarting from being left out of last season's College Football Playoff despite ten consecutive double-digit regular-season victories used its opener to signal it intends to force its way back into the field. Wisconsin's own athletics department, in a recap posted on the program's official site, confirmed the 41-13 final as coach Luke Fickell's rebuilding roster, which includes 34 transfer additions this season, turns toward a Big Ten schedule that offers a chance to regroup before marquee games against USC and Iowa.

The rare regular-season game at the home of the Green Bay Packers drew a crowd that skewed heavily toward green and gold, only to watch Notre Dame's own shade of green take over as the night wore on. It marked just the second time in a decade that college football has taken over the NFL's most storied stadium, a reminder of how far programs are now willing to travel for a marquee non-conference opener. Notre Dame will look to build on the win next week, while Wisconsin returns to Madison to try to salvage momentum before Big Ten play intensifies.