SMU kickoff time, TV coverage for Notre Dame game revealed

SMU and Notre Dame, who will meet in South Bend, Ind. on Nov. 21, 2026., now have the kickoff time for the contest, per On3’s Brett McMurphy on Thursday. The Mustangs will take on the Fighting Irish at 6:30 p.m. CT on NBC.

The two teams found themselves on the outside looking in of the College Football Playoff this year, but the matchup could be a major one for the 12-team playoff this year.

For SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee, a win at Notre Dame would likely be the biggest road win in modern program history. The Mustangs have been pushing the trajectory of the program upwards, knocking different challenges off its list of “things that haven’t been done in a while.” Against what most believe will be a Top 5 team come November, that type of win would be huge.

“We played Penn State a few years ago in the CFP game, and we didn’t play our best, right? After the game I said, ‘well, you’ve got to act like you’ve been there before,’ but we’ve never been there before, right?,” Lashlee said this year. “And so our hope is when we get back in those situations in the playoffs someday that we’ll respond differently. I think you saw the benefits of that when we went on the road to a place like Clemson this year, okay?

“We’re testing ourselves against some of the best brands and the best venues because we believe our brand is that caliber as well.”

Lashlee’s excited about the team he’s got coming into the 2026 season, led by quarterback Kevin Jennings, and felt like it’s got the talent and leadership to be among the nation’s best.

“What you really hope is at the end of the day, everyone’s a leader. I mean that’s the truth, they’re all leading,” he said. “They’re all bare minimum leading themselves, and they all are responsible for holding everyone accountable. It doesn’t matter if you’re a true freshman and I’m a senior, you’re responsible for holding me accountable to the standard that we want to have here, and vice versa. And so, we’ve talked to them about that. We want to develop individuals, but as a whole, everybody’s a leader. So may have different roles and how you lead, but everyone’s got to do it their own way.”

The SMU Mustangs will need plenty of leadership when they face Notre Dame in primetime come late November. Maybe there’s a trip to the College Football Playoff on the line.