Notre Dame has returned to the Top 25 for the first time since falling to South Florida in the season opener.
The day after the Fighting Irish racked up 508 total yards in a 45-21 victory at FedEx Field to notch their third straight win and seventh overall, they were voted No. 24 in the Associated Press poll and 25th in the USA Today coaches' poll.
The Irish will need to win their final two remaining games against Boston College and No. 8 Stanford to have a remote chance of finishing in the top 14 in the final BCS poll and therefore receiving a BCS bowl bid.
"When you're ranked you're playing better," Kelly said. "Obviously, we started 0-2. To be ranked this late in the season means we've played better football since that O-2 start."
Took the team long enough to get recognized as a decent one. Some of their early losses were bad ones, but some of their early wins were good. They are ranked behind some teams they've beaten. If you look at the teams they lost to, only one was a bad defeat. Mr. Holtz, Jr. beat them fair and square, and on paper probably shouldn't have. Boston College shopuld not beat them, if they beat Stanford maybe they reach that # 14 ranking.