Rough news for third-year Notre Dame RB Gi'Bran Payne, who will likely miss the season with an ACL tear in his right knee.

Payne redshirted in 2022, playing in four games. He had 226 yards from scrimmage and 4 TDs last season.

Notre Dame's Oct. 26 game vs. Navy at MetLife Stadium will kick off at noon ET and air on either ABC or ESPN.

The Irish now have start times for all but two games: Oct. 19 at Georgia Tech and Nov. 30 at USC.

Northwestern kick times/networks (ET):

Aug. 31: Miami-Ohio, 3:30 BTN
Sept. 6: Duke, 9 FS1 (moved from Sept. 7)
Sept. 14: Eastern Illinois, 7:30 BTN
Oct. 11: at Maryland, 8 Fox (prev announced)
Oct. 26: at Iowa, 3:30 TBD
Nov. 16: Ohio State at Wrigley Field, 12 OR 3:30 TBD

Peacock-only Big Ten games (ET):

Sept. 7
Rhode Island at Minnesota, noon
Boise State at Oregon, 10

Sept. 14
Central Michigan at Illinois, noon
Washington State vs. Washington, 3:30

Big Ten kick times/networks for the first three weeks, along with select other games, will be announced at 2:30 ET.

Notre Dame and Arkansas have opted out of their contracts in the 2024 Rady Children’s Invitational tournament field and have been replaced with NC State and Ole Miss. (Purdue and BYU remain in.)

The MBB tournament will take place Nov. 28-29 at UC San Diego's LionTree Arena.

App State and Boise State have scheduled a home-and-home for 2025 and 2027:

🐴 Sept. 27, 2025 at Albertsons Stadium
⛰️ Sept. 4, 2027 at Kidd Brewer Stadium

This will be their first meeting as FBS schools. They met in the 1994 Div. I-AA quarterfinals, per Patrick Walsh, a BSU win.

PRIMETIME PUNTS!!

Source: College football's most-played rivalry is moving to Black Friday, as the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe will take place on Nov. 29.

The Heroes Game will be in primetime for the first time, too.

🪓 Minnesota at Wisconsin, noon ET (CBS)
🇺🇸 Nebraska at Iowa, 7:30 ET (NBC)

Pumped to join friends Jarrett Payton and Kaitlin Sharkey.

I’m setting the over/under on Miami questions from Jarrett at 2.5.

NEW on The Inside Zone:

Spoke with Southern Utah HC DeLane Fitzgerald, whom the NCAA suspended for seemingly minor tampering violations.

What happened, and why the harsh penalty?

“I got a year’s jail time for a jaywalking ticket, is what it amounts to.” insidezonemf.com/p/why-is-the-n…

NEW on The Inside Zone:

Spoke with Southern Utah HC DeLane Fitzgerald, whom the NCAA suspended for seemingly minor tampering violations.

What happened, and why the harsh penalty?

“I got a year’s jail time for a jaywalking ticket, is what it amounts to.” insidezonemf.com/p/why-is-the-n…

Notre Dame's home kickoff times (ET) have been announced by NBC:

Sept. 7: Northern Illinois, 3:30
Sept. 21: Miami-Ohio, 3:30
Sept. 28: Louisville, 3:30 (Peacock only)
Oct. 12: Stanford, 3:30
Nov. 9: Florida State, 7:30
Nov. 16: Virginia, 3:30
Nov. 23: Army (in Yankee Stadium), 7