Leonard, who opened Saturday's game with three straight TD drives, was the QB the Irish envisioned when he arrived via the transfer portal.

The Irish could have easily folded immediately after Devyn Ford fumbled the opening kickoff. While they did give up a touchdown, they didn’t hold their head down for long. The Irish would go on to score on their first three possessions, all touchdowns, giving them a solid 21-7 cushion after the first quarter.

Notre Dame (4-1) earned a hard-fought victory over Louisville (3-1) this weekend, giving the Fighting Irish their third straight win. The 16th-ranked Fighting Irish beat the 15th-ranked Cardinals by a 31-24 score. Notre Dame led for over 52 minutes of the game and used a fast start and an crucial finish to earn the victory.

Yahoo Sports' Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz react to the Fighting Irish's 31-24 win over the Cardinals and whether they are impressed by Notre Dame's second win over a ranked opponent this season. Subscribe to the “College Football Power Hour” podcast on Apple Podcasts,

Irish Breakdown gives you all the ways to watch and listen to the football matchup between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Louisville Cardinals

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was the target of a vicious late hit by the Lousiville defense and despite the referee's failing to throw a flag, the star returned just one play later

When Riley Leonard transferred from Duke to Notre Dame, things did not go as planned. In a bit of ultimate Notre Dame irony, Leonard ended up missing almost all of Spring ball due to medical work being done to care for an injury the Irish created in 2023.