2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team The 2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2010 college football season . The team ' s head football coach was Brian Kelly . The Irish played their home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame , Indiana . This was Kelly ' s first season as Notre Dame ' s head coach , after leading the Cincinnati Bearcats to a 12 – 0 regular season and BCS bowl berth . In 2010 , Notre Dame ' s regular season schedule was ranked the most difficult schedule in the nation with a Team Opposition Record Percentage of . 6529 ( the poll published by the NCAA only includes wins against Division 1 teams ) . They finished the season 8 – 5 and were invited to the Sun Bowl where they defeated Miami ( FL ) 33 – 17 . Pre - season . Coaching changes . Following the 2009 season , Notre Dame fired head coach Charlie Weis after the Irish finished 6 - 6 , well below expectations of competing for a BCS bowl berth . Brian Kelly was named as his replacement on Dec 10 , 2009 . Running Backs coach Tony Alford was the lone assistant retained from Weis ' s staff . Before Rob Ianello could be considered , he took the head job at the University of Akron Ron Powlus followed Ianello to Akron . Player departures . Irish stars Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate chose to forgo their final years of eligibility and declare for the 2010 NFL draft . The Irish also lost a number of seniors to graduation , including linemen Eric Olsen , Paul Duncan and four - year starter Sam Young . Other notable losses included running back James Aldridge , wideout Robby Parris , and George West on offense . On defense , ND lost senior captains Kyle McCarthy and Scott Smith , Raeshon McNeil , Sergio Brown , John Ryan and Ray Herring to graduation . Standout special teams player Mike Anello also finished his final year of eligibility . Sophomore defensive back E . J Banks left the team in August 2010 , but will still be enrolled at the school . On August 31 , within days of the September 4 season opener against Purdue , sophomore wide receiver Shaquelle Evans was granted his release from the team , and decided to enroll at UCLA . Freshman Derek Roback also left the program in early September , as his desire to play quarterback led to his transfer to Ohio Player additions . With his first recruiting class , Brian Kelly received 23 signed commitments from high school players across the United States . Among them was five early - enrollees : Quarterback Tommy Rees , Wide Receiver Tai - ler Jones , Cornerback Lo Wood , Cornerback Spencer Boyd and Safety Chris Badger . Spencer Boyd transferred to USF in early July , and Chris Badger left on a two year Mormon mission to Ecuador in August . On April 2 , 2010 Notre Dame recruit Matt James , who committed to Notre Dame on National Signing Day , died when he fell from a three - story hotel balcony in Panama City , Florida . Game notes . Army . USC . On a rainy Southern California night , the Trojans ' Joe Houston kicked a 45 - yard field goal to give USC a first quarter lead . The second quarter , however , belonged to the Irish , as QB Tommy Rees completed a pair of 1 - yard pass touchdowns to Michael Floyd and Duval Kamara , with Kamara ' s coming just before the half . David Ruffer missed the extra point on the second touchdown . In the third quarter , the Trojans kicked a field goal and Mitch Mustain ran in for a 1 - yard touchtown , which was aided by a Notre Dame fumble . Joe Houston ' s 37 - yard field goal gave the Trojans a fourth quarter lead . But Notre Dame came back with a 5 - yard rush touchdown by Robert Hughes to give the Irish the lead back and the game . Notre Dame finally ended USC ' s streak of consecutive victories , which dated back to 2001 . USC ' s attempt to come back was stopped by a Notre Dame interception at the one yard line . Miami ( FL ) . Tommy Rees passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns to Michael Floyd as Notre Dame beat Miami 33 - 17 . After a 20 - year hiatus in the series , it was all Irish in the latest installment of a storied rivalry that became known during the 1980s as " Catholics versus Convicts . " The Irish reached the end zone on three of its first four possessions . Rees tossed TD passes of 3 and 34 yards to Floyd and Cierre Wood broke free on a 34 - yard scoring run . David Ruffer added field goals from 40 , 50 and 19 yards . The Irish defense picked off Miami starting quarterback Jacory Harris 3 times and logged 4 total interceptions in the first half to help the team jump out to a 27 - 0 lead in the first half . The Hurricanes tried to rally in the 4th quarter behind backup quarterback Stephen Morris , who threw a 6 - yard touchdown to Leonard Hankerson and a 42 - yard scoring play to Tommy Streeter , but it was too late by then . Rees was able to make some key first downs to effectively run out the clock late in the 4th quarter . The game sold out in 21 hours , the fastest in the Sun Bowl ' s 77 - year history , and the crowd of 54 , 021 set a bowl attendance record . Floyd ' s two touchdowns pushed him past Jeff Samardzija and Golden Tate to claim 28 career touchdowns , the most in Irish history . Senior safety Harrison Smith logged three interceptions in the first half , tying the Sun Bowl record . The Irish victory also made Brian Kelly the first Fighting Irish coach to win a bowl game in his first season ( Notre Dame did not play in bowl - games from the 1925 through 1968 seasons due to a self - imposed ban on post - season play ) . Post Season . Awards . National Awards All - Americans