This Week: Notre Dame College will travel back to West Virginia this weekend to play Fairmont State University, on Oct. 29. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.

Records: Notre Dame enters the week with an overall record of 6-2, while going 6-1 in the Mountain East Conference. Last week, the NDC Falcons took care of business against Glenville State, in a 38-16 victory. And after Concord lost to West Virginia State last Saturday, NDC is now alone at the top of the MEC. Fairmont State checks in at 3-5 (3-4 MEC) after dropping a 16-14 decision last week, on the road against Frostburg State.

Coaches Corner: Garrett Mack is in his first season as the head coach of the NDC football program. He had been on the staff for two seasons, prior to 2022. Jason Woodman is in his 10th season on the sideline at Fairmont State. He has a coaching record of 52-41 (49-37 MEC).

Rankings: Neither of these teams are ranked in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II top 25. The first NCAA Division II regional rankings were released this week and Notre Dame was one of 10 teams under consideration in Super Region One.

Series History: The NDC-Fairmont State all-time series dates back to 2010, in Notre Dame's first official season as a program. Fairmont State won three of the first four matchups, but Notre Dame has won the last four times these teams have met. Aside from two lopsided scores that have book-ended the series, the meetings between 2014 and 2019 were separated by 12 points, or less. Last season, Notre Dame scored at least one touchdown in every quarter, while the defense held FSU to 142 yards of total offense in a 45-0 victory.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame took advantage of Glenville State turnovers in the first half of last week's game. After GSU quarterback Anthony Garrett fumbled on the Pioneers' first drive, NDC recovered and went 27 yards down the field in two plays for a touchdown. Glenville State would tie the game at seven late in the first quarter, and it would remain tied until the NDC defense stepped up again. Cael Bright intercepted a pass and ran the ball back 30 yards for a pick-6. On the next Glenville State drive, Bright stepped in front of a pass and, once again, brought it back for a touchdown from 31 yards away. Those two pick-6s, along with six tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss earned the junior linebacker MEC Defensive Player of the Week and D2Football Defensive Player of the Week honors. Another passing touchdown for the Pioneers, followed by an NDC field goal by Cameron Shirkey gave NDC a 24-14 lead at the half. For the second week in a row, the Falcons' defense did not allow a point in the second half. CJ Kiss caught a TD pass and Idris Lawrence ran in for his second touchdown of the day, in the third quarter. Glenville State's only points in the final 30 minutes were scored on a safety after a bad snap on a punt attempt.

The NDC defense is first in NCAA Division II with six defensive touchdowns and ranks 9th in passes intercepted with 12. NDC is also first in blocked punts, with five, 10th in opponent passing efficiency, at 96.8, 12th in total takeaways, with 19, and 20th in scoring average with 35.1 points per game. Nate Moore is seventh in D2 with 52 solo tackles and ranks fifth with 87 total tackles. Davonte Murray is tied for ninth in D2 with 14 tackles for loss. Wendell McClain is tied for eighth in Division II with 10 passes defended. Cameron Shirkey is tied for fourth with 12 field goals made and is 14th in the country with a field goal percentage of 85.7-percent.

Earlier this season, Chris Brimm took over the NDC record for total career touchdowns with 112 (100 passing, 12 rushing) and most career offensive yards responsible for (11,401). As the starting quarterback since 2018, he has played in 53 games, winning 46 of them. In recent Division II history, Minnesota Duluth's Chase Vogler (2009-12) has owned the most victories in a career with 46. At the Division I level, Kellen Moore had 50 at Boise State. Brimm is now the career leader at NDC in passing yards (10,956), passing touchdowns (100), pass efficiency (146.6), average yards per pass (8), yards per completion (13.4), pass attempts (1,368) and completions (819). He is second in passing yards per game (206.7).

In terms of Mountain East Conference career rankings, Brimm is first in touchdown passes, total offensive yards and passing yards. He is second in completions and pass attempts and fifth in completion percentage (60).

Noting the FSU Falcons: The FSU Falcons have had a season of streaks. They lost their first three games of the season, won three in a row, and have now lost two consecutive games. During the three-game win streak from Sept. 24 to Oct. 6, Fairmont State had some impressive victories, including a two-point win (25-23) against UNC Pembroke and a one-point road victory (10-9) over Concord. Last week in Frostburg, Fairmont State scored first with Myles Miree finding the endzone in the first quarter. Four minutes later, the Bobcats got a rushing touchdown of their own to tie the game. Then, from early in the second quarter to midway through the third, Dayne Koontz hit three field goals. Fairmont scored late in the fourth quarter to make it a two-point game, but turned the ball over on downs on its final drive.

Myles Miree's streak of six games with over 100 rushing yards came to an end, as he finished with 53. Miree is 19th in Division II with 800 rushing yards and Michael Floria ranks 13th in the country with 15.2 passing yards per completion. On the defensive side, Brocton Blair tied for ninth in D2 with 81 total tackles.