After No. 21 Notre Dame beat Boise State 28-7 on Saturday, Irish head coach Marcus Freeman talked about an oxymoron when it came to talking about his defense.

That defense had four sacks, four interceptions and seven points allowed.

Freeman still wanted to see more pressure on the quarterback. Why? He has a high standard for his defenses.

“I’m a perfection guy,” Freeman said.

Perfect college football? That’s an oxymoron. The chaos is what makes the game great to begin with. 

Still, Notre Dame had close to a perfect day as the 3-2 Irish possibly could.

The Irish’s defense performed against a stellar Boise State offense. Broncos quarterback Maddux Madsen came into South Bend having thrown nine touchdown passes to just one pick. He’ll leave having five interceptions on the season. 

Welcome back, Notre Dame’s defense. Saturday was more like it. Getting that defensive swagger back is something that needed to happen if the Irish wanted to get back to the College Football Playoff.

“I feel like we’re just getting our identity,” Cornerback Leonard Moore, who had two interceptions Saturday, said. “Playing fast, playing violent.”

Still, if Notre Dame wants to make the CFP it needs some help.

That happened on Saturday in a big way. No. 9 Texas lost to unranked Florida and No. 7 Penn State lost to winless UCLA. Both the Longhorns and Nittany Lions have two losses on the year. No. 16 Vanderbilt didn’t upset No. 10 Alabama, but the Commodores were ahead of the Irish.

Now, suddenly, Notre Dame has a better resume than Penn State and Texas. The Irish’s two losses came at the hands of the No. 3 and No. 6-ranked teams in college football. They have an offense that’s averaging over 40 points per game. 

Now, if their defense comes along as Saturday showed it can, they’ll have a legitimate argument for the CFP as opposed to just being in the conversation.

Notre Dame still has to finish the season 10-2 with 10 straight wins. That’s a non-negotiable.

That’s a possibility.

“It’s hard, man, it’s hard,” Freeman said. “The coaching staff, these guys put a lot into trying to achieve an outcome that you achieved today. I always remind them, like, enjoy this. We’ll get back to work tomorrow, but enjoy this because you get 12 guaranteed opportunities, and it’s hard to get one.”

Notre Dame’s margin of error remains small. Its defense picked up the slack on Saturday, but the offense left a few plays on the field. 

Quarterback CJ Carr missed a wide-open Will Pauling on fourth and 10 for a touchdown. The offense also ran its wildcat short-yardage package on fourth and goal from one-yard line. Jeremiyah Love got stuffed for a turnover on downs. 

The Irish offense still had its day. Love rushed for over 100 yards and scored. Jadarian Price rumbled for a 49-yard touchdown that shook off at least five tacklers. Carr hit Pauling for the first score of the game on a back-shoulder fade that looked NFL-ready.

Freeman’s defense, called by the much-maligned defensive coordinator Chris Ash, picked up the slack. The pass rush was working, and the Notre Dame linebackers recorded 3.5 of the team’s four sacks.

“We were able to win the one-on-one battles more consistently,” Freeman said. “We knew that was going to be the challenge.”

But, that’s the stuff Notre Dame can control.

The Irish can improve their defense and stay consistent on offense under their own roof. They can’t control everything else.

They still need a few losses to roll their way. Saturday went a long way in helping Notre Dame inch back into the conversation. The AP Poll might have them just inside the top-20, but that’s moot. The real comparison point will be the CFP Committee poll, released in a few weeks.

That’s the committee that decides who makes the 12-team field. That committee’s opinion of Notre Dame is all that matters.

Days like Saturday, when upsets happened across the sport and Notre Dame wasn’t tied up in that conversation, help the Irish stay in the conversation for the College Football Playoffs.

“It’s hard to earn a victory,” Freeman said. “Sometimes we take that for granted.”