Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden is on the heels of an NFL job after the Fighting Irish lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff national championship game Monday.

Coach Ryan Day shushed the critics, running back Quinshon Judkins scored three touchdowns, and the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes held off a furious second-half rally to beat No. 7 seed Notre Dame, 34-23,

Ohio State’s defense has been hard to score on all season and that remained true even in a College Football Playoff National Championship game where it surrendered 23 points to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are one of just four teams in the last two years to score more than 17 points with the others being eventual nation champions Georgia (2022) and Michigan (2023) plus Oregon this