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By Matthew Couden
Contributing Writer
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With Notre Dame's regular season over, the team awaits its fate for the College Football Playoff bracket. Most people believe that the Fighting Irish will get a spot amongst the 12 teams, but with no conference championship to play for, they'll be watching other results and hoping for the CFP committee's selection.
Meanwhile, awards season is underway, with the Heisman Trophy among the biggest in college sports. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love is among the top contenders for the award, along with several impressive quarterbacks.
Despite a limited game against Stanford due to getting banged up, Love achieved 1,372 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns in his regular season, breaking a touchdown record previously held by NFL legend Jerome Bettis. With that in mind, his stock is also rising for the professional league, should he choose to enter the draft.
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The star running back recently spoke about all the Heisman buzz surrounding him and his potential future with the NFL.
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“It would mean a lot, not only just for the program, but for myself. You know, I want to be in that position to have a chance to win the Heisman," he said on "The Echoes Podcast," adding, "That’s just me speaking individually. Still, from a much bigger perspective, I feel like this team has done a lot of great things this year, both offensively and defensively and special teams-wise.”
“I feel like if I have that great honor and chance to go to New York, it would be to represent not only myself but this program, and kind of put Notre Dame on a pedestal, the great things we’ve done this year,” Love said.
On Tuesday, On3 ranked Love fourth among Heisman favorites, reporting he currently has +2000 odds to win the award. Above him, they listed Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin at the top.
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His total rushing yards and touchdowns this season have him ranked in the top five in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Love had six-straight games of 100 yards or more during his team's 10-game win streak, which occurred after a rough 0-2 start.
His impressive numbers at Notre Dame raise the question about his future with the team. Love, a junior, was noncommittal about his intentions regarding a return for a senior season or a move to the NFL.
"As of right now, I'm not thinking about. I'll just say that," he told the podcast co-hosts.
As of this writing, Tankathon lists Love as a projected No. 13 pick, possibly landing on the Kansas City Chiefs. In Love's case, it seems sticking around another season probably wouldn't improve his draft stock, which is already relatively high based on the NFL mock drafts.
Before he makes any decisions, Notre Dame will wait to see whether it has a CFP spot and begin preparing for that journey, possibly to contend for a national championship for a second straight time.
Read more: Clemson’s Dabo Swinney Fires Back at Critics After South Carolina Win
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