Notre Dame Fighting Irish

What makes Brian Kelly think Notre Dame is a win from a CFP berth?

Published Nov. 24, 2015 5:31 p.m. ET

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While the College Football Playoff Committee will rank teams two more times this year, this week offers Notre Dame its last chance to impress the CFP on the field. 

Will a win at Stanford be enough to regain a spot in the final four for the Fighting Irish? 

Coach Brian Kelly said he believes so Tuesday during his weekly press conference, but he admitted it is also out of his control. 

"There's a committee that makes those decisions," Kelly said. "All we can do is control the way we perform and the way we prepare.

"And (the players) know that. Our guys clearly understand what they have to do in their preparation and then their performance on Saturday. And that's it. The rest is up to a committee, and we knew that coming into the season. So we'll take care of what we can take care of."

Asked why he things his team will have done enough to deserve to play on, he pointed to the strength of Notre Dame's schedule. 

"I think when you look at, from the start of the year to the end of the year, the kind of teams we've played, certainly Stanford is going to be a great test for us," he said. "I think if you look at the teams across the board, we've played, from the start, in September, all the way through November, we've played a very good schedule.

"It hasn't been front-loaded. It hasn't been back-loaded. We've had to play good football all year." 

After Kelly made his comments, the CFP ranked the Fighting Irish sixth in their newest rankings, down from No. 4 a week ago. 

Stanford showed up at No. 9 with Clemson No. 1. The Tigers were followed by Alabama, Oklahoma, Iowa and Michigan State. 

Notre Dame can still impress the committee by beating the Cardinal, but everyone ahead of the Irish still has a game left against a ranked oppoennt with the possible exception of Michigan State.

The Spartans must beat unranked Penn State on Saturday to earn a berth in the Big Ten championship game against Iowa. 

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