Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 OCT. 17, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: NAVY from him. His teammates know what they're going to get from him as well. He practices at a high tempo, at a high pace. "He really doesn't have bad days. Maybe in his mind he does. But realis- tically, he is Mr. Consistency and it's a joy to work with a guy like that each and every day." Navy needs to keep finding more football players like Parker to challenge for American Conference titles. "I can't say enough good things about MarcAnthony Parker as a player and as a person," Newberry said. "He's one of the most consistent guys in our pro- gram. He's been outstanding at line- backer for us. "He's a really, really smart football player, plays our style of football, shows up to work every day, doesn't say a whole lot but goes about his business the right way. He's one of those guys that if you could define a Navy football player what you're looking for, he fits that profile to a T." ✦ Three Things To Know About Navy 1. Knute Rockne May Have Had A Hand In Navy Winning A National Championship Kind of, sort of. Navy will honor the 100th anniversary of its only national championship season during its Oct. 31 matchup with the Irish in Foxborough, Mass. The Mids won the title in 1926, the season before Navy and Notre Dame started their longtime annual series. And yes, Rockne was Notre Dame's head coach in those days, but his effect on Navy's title was both indirect and a little hypothetical. The Irish were on track to win the title themselves with an 8-0 record heading into a Nov. 27 matchup with Carnegie Tech and had given up a total of seven points the entire season to that point. Confident his team would defeat Carnegie Tech, Rockne instead traveled to Chicago to watch the Army-Navy game at Soldier Field. Tech upended the Irish 19-0 in what ESPN has ranked as the fourth- greatest upset of all time in college football. That opened the door for the Mids to claim the title at 9-0-1. The Irish rebounded in their season finale to beat Southern Cal 13-12, but it wasn't enough to overtake Navy for the championship. 2. Navy Has An NFL Presence And it's a historical one. Currently there are four Navy alums on active NFL rosters. That's believed to be the most players from a service academy on active NFL rosters at one time. Two of them are rookies the Irish faced last season in a 49-10 Notre Dame rout in November — 2nd Lt. Eli Heidenreich (running back/wide receiver, Pittsburgh Steelers) and 2nd Lt. Landon Robinson (defensive lineman, Cincinnati Bengals). Then there's second-year safety 2nd Lt. Rayuan Lane III, with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and 12th-year long snapper Joe Cardona (Los Angeles Rams). Cardona this season passed Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach (1969-79) for the longest NFL career by a former Navy football player. Among the Navy grads who have played in the NFL and then returned to active duty is 1st Lt. Malcolm Perry, Navy's leading rusher in a 2018 loss to Notre Dame as Navy's starting slotback and its leading rusher in a 2019 loss to the Irish as the Mids' starting quarterback. He transitioned back to the Marine Corps in 2022 after being drafted as a wide receiver in 2020 and spending time with three NFL organiza- tions. He retired from the NFL in July 2022 to pursue his Marine Corps career. 3. Elite Rushing Attacks Are In Navy's DNA Well, at least since 2002. Only three times since that season did Navy finish lower than sixth nation- ally in rushing yards per game. That was during the pandemic-altered 2020 season (52nd), in which a matchup with Notre Dame was canceled, 2021 (ninth) and 2023 (17th). Last season, Navy led the nation in rushing at 285.6 yards per game. That marked the seventh time the Midshipmen had led the nation in rushing since 2003 and the first time since 2019. This season, the Mids were sitting in fifth place heading into their Oct. 10 matchup with Tulsa. — Eric Hansen 2026 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 6 vs. Wisconsin* W, 41-13 Sept. 12 Rice W, 52-0 Sept. 19 Michigan State W, 27-10 Sept. 26 at Purdue W, 49-10 Oct. 3 at North Carolina W, 37-26 Oct. 10 Stanford W, 58-7 Oct. 17 at BYU (ABC) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31 vs. Navy^ (ABC/ESPN) 12 p.m. Nov. 7 Miami (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 Boston College (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 21 SMU (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at Syracuse TBA * at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. ^ at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. 2026 NAVY SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 5 Towson W, 42-15 Sept. 12 at Florida Atlantic L, 38-30 Sept. 25 at UAB L, 24-20 Oct. 3 at Air Force L, 14-9 Oct. 10 Tulsa W, 34-26 Oct. 17 at UTSA (ESPNU) 8 p.m. Oct. 24 North Texas (CBSSN) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 31 vs. Notre Dame^ (ABC/ESPN) 12 p.m. Nov. 7 Temple (CBSSN) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 21 Memphis 12 p.m. Nov. 28 at Charlotte TBA Dec. 12 vs. Army* (CBS) 3 p.m. ^ at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. * at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Former Navy standout Eli Heidenreich earned a spot on the Pittsburgh Steelers' roster after being selected in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft. PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH STEELERS