Notre Dame wallops Stanford, 45-24

STANFORD - When Notre Dame needed a spark to get going late in the first half, the special teams delivered.

Isaiah Foskey’s blocked punt set up Ian Book’s second of four touchdown passes and No. 15 Notre Dame reached double-digit wins for the third straight season by beating Stanford 45-24 on Saturday.

“It started with the punt block,” coach Brian Kelly said. “From there we got some momentum and started to settle down a bit offensively.”

Book turned the blocked punt into a 6-yard TD pass to Tommy Tremble late in the second quarter and then threw his first of two TD passes to Chase Claypool with 1:20 remaining in the half as the Fighting Irish (10-2, No. 16 CFP) quickly erased a 10-point deficit and snapped a five-game losing streak at Stanford Stadium.

Notre Dame also put together three straight seasons of at least 10 wins for the second time in school history, having previously done it under Lou Holtz from 1991-93.

Book was a big reason why, throwing for 255 yards with a ?16-yard TD pass to Tony Jones Jr. in the first quarter.

“He’s found a stillness in him that he’s never had before,” Kelly said. “He plays the game differently now. His calmness is really about his confidence now and what he can do.”

Davis Mills threw two TD passes for the Cardinal (4-8), who have lost four straight for the first time since 2007. Stanford also finished with its first losing record since 2008, ending a streak of 10 straight bowl bids.