SOUTH BEND — As the senior class took the field before Notre Dame’s 40-7 blowout of Boston College, some players were reminded of where their careers as Fighting Irish had begun.

In 2016, the true seniors had ended their freshman season with a 4-8 record, not where they had wanted to be.

By the time those same seniors walked off the field following their final home game victory, they had a sense of accomplishment that had not been achieved in decades.

With 30 regular-season wins over the last three years and finishing with an undefeated record at home for the second year in the row. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said this group of seniors had been special to the program because of its fight.

“We talk about failure,” Kelly said. “Failure is not fatal. It’s the ability to come back from those times. This group has certainly learned that. It’s that group that goes up and goes to work.”

The seven home wins this season were an emphasis for the team.

“It’s a huge piece,” Kelly said. “It’s part of our summer workouts. We have themed conditioning runs that center around that. We condition in the stadium which is a, ‘Protect our House’ themed-run with video.”

Looking at most college football teams’ schedule Kelly said if a team can protect its own house and do decent on the road, they could be in the mix.

Winning all home games was the standard for Notre Dame — it even says so on the back of their shirts.

“A standard of play that exists when we are in this stadium, and that standard needs to be one that protects this house,” Kelly said.

The seniors will leave behind more than just a winning legacy. They have already extended their knowledge to younger classmen through peer accountability, Kelly said.

That accountability extends beyond the field — even to picking up trash from the locker room floor. The accountability extends to getting back up after failures.

“We may slip, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get back up to where we need to be,” Kelly said.

As seniors may have reflected on their own individual pasts, the future also had a prominent role as younger players showed glimpses of what next year’s program could look like.

Junior linebacker Drew White, who was not a starter until this season, shined defensively alongside junior Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

Also in his first year at Notre Dame, sophomore wide receiver Braden Lenzy, who previously shined in Notre Dame’s defeat over the Navy, ran for a 61-yard touchdown in Saturday’s game. Despite fatigue concerns earlier in the season, Lenzy proved to have the speed the Fighting Irish can utilize.

As the class deemed ”special” by Kelly walked off the field, their focus turned to their next game against Stanford (9-1) and the opportunity to further the legacy they had already created. With a win against Stanford, Notre Dame would finish the season with a 10-win season, for the third year in a row, which has only happened one other time in school history.