Notre Dame goes after its first, and probably last ACC, championship today at 4 p.m. in Charlotte, North Carolina, against a Clemson team it beat earlier this year in two overtimes.

Both Clemson and ND are somewhat different teams this time around. Clemson will have all those players missing from the first meeting back today, while the Irish have lost part of their big and very special offensive line.

But, the Irish are also playing better because of the improved play of quarterback Ian Book.

The Tigers have Trevor Lawrence, their talented signal caller, back in the lineup. Lawrence had to stand on the sidelines in the first game due to COVID-19 restrictions.

In that first meeting, won by the Irish 47-40, ND’s defense committed to stopping the running game, and in particular, Travis Etienne. Etienne had his worst rushing game as a starter in his Clemson career, totaling just 28 yards on 18 carries. But in committing so much to stopping the run, the Irish enabled Lawrence’s backup, D.J. Uiagalelei, to throw for 439 yards and two touchdowns.

The Tigers may stay with the run game or, because of the success of Uiagalelei, may let Lawrence air it out.

Clemson enters the game as one of the top defensive teams in the country. The Tigers are 14th in total defense, 12th in scoring defense, 21st in passing efficiency and third in third down defense.

The Tigers are 9-1, with their lone loss to ND. ND is 10-0.

The Irish lost starting senior center Jarred Patterson with a foot injury two games ago, and he is done for the season. Sophomore Zeke Correll got the start Nov. 27 at North Carolina, but suffered a high ankle sprain and missed ND’s 45-21 win over Syracuse on Dec. 5. Senior Josh Lugg filled in that game. Kelly said the starter today will be a game-time decision.

Key backup defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola - one of the team’s best interior pass rushers - is back practicing after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee during practice week of the Nov. 14 Boston College game. Another key interior line depth player, sophomore nose guard Jacob Lacey, also has the green light medically after being limited by injuries over the past couple of games. Both will probably see action today.

Other than those injury updates, ND has no other issues.

The game will be televised nationally by ABC-TV with the kickoff about 4:10 p.m.

Syracuse game

Although the Irish played sloppy at times in the Syracuse game - especially in the first quarter and part of the second quarter - Book had an outstanding game as he led the Irish to three quick scores in the second quarter on their way to a 45-21 victory. The game was the first December contest in ND stadium since 1953.

Book is now the winningest QB in ND history with a 30-3 record as a starter. He finished the game with 285 yards passing, going 24-for-37 with three TD tosses. He also ran for two scores. The only negative was that he threw his first interception since the season opener against Duke. Through the first 10 games this season, Book passed for 2,382 yards and 15 touchdowns with two interceptions, while rushing for 465 yards and eight scores.

Book had a lot of help from fellow senior Javon McKinley. McKinley entered the game leading the Irish in receptions (30) and receiving yards (549), but had no TDs. He caught three TD passes against the Orange of 21, 28 and 26 yards and finished the game with his fourth 100-yard performance of the season, 111 yards total.

In what was their final game in ND stadium, the seniors stepped up on both sides of the ball.

The team’s young talent is making the future look really bright.

Another highlight of the day was a 94-yard TD run by freshman Chris Tyree in the fourth quarter, which marked the longest run of his young career and just so happened to come on his 19th birthday. Meanwhile, freshman cornerback Clarence Lewis finished with a game-high 12 tackles and broke up a pass and forced a fumble.

The rest of the game stats had Kyren Williams getting 112 yards on 20 carries, Tyree 116 yards on six carries, and Book 64 yards on eight carries. Michael Mayer had 36 yards on five catches, Ben Skowronek 71 yards on four catches, and Williams 33 yards on three catches to complement McKinley.

Kicker Jonathan Doerer hit one field goal for 25 yards, but missed a 50-yarder.

Defensively, Clarence Lewis had 12 tackles, and was followed by Bo Bauer with six, and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah with five.

ND finished with 568 yards of total offense, including 285 through the air and 283 on the ground.

IRISH NOTES ... As was expected, Irish defensive coordinator Clark Lea has landed a head coaching job after he was named coach at Vanderbilt University earlier this week. He will still coach the Irish today ... ND remained in second place in the College Football Playoff standings behind No. 1 Alabama, and ahead of Clemson and Ohio State. The question, of course, is if ND loses today, where does that put them in the national title game picture? According to many observers, ND would drop from second to probably third or fourth, which would still keep them in the title picture ... Book was named to the Top 10 for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The Golden Arm recognizes the nation’s top senior or fourth-year quarterback. The winner will be announced on Monday ... Notre Dame extended the FBS’ longest active winning streak to 16 games with their win over Syracuse. The Irish also completed their third undefeated regular season in the Kelly Era, joining the 2012 and 2018 teams. There have been 14 undefeated, untied regular seasons in Irish history ... The Irish extended the second-longest active home winning streak in the FBS to 24 games ... Williams passed the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the season in the Syracuse game ... Tyree’s TD run was the third-longest rushing score in Notre Dame history. Recent Irish running backs Josh Adams (98 yards in 2015) and Dexter Williams (97 yards in 2018) are the only other players with longer touchdown runs ... Wednesday was early national signing day for college football recruits. ND signed 23 players. According to national recruiting sites, the Irish class is in the top five in the nation with the likes of Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State. One of the recruits signed is Ron Powlus III, of Penn High School in South Bend. He is the son of former ND quarterback Ron Powlus II, who played for ND from 1994-97 and also briefly in the NFL. The Berwick High School star is currently associate athletic director at ND. His son is a 6-2, 230-pound QB ... Three Notre Dame players were given ACC Player of The Week honors for their performances against Syracuse. Williams was named co-Running Back of the Week; Lewis was named Defensive Back of the Week; and McKinley was named Receiver of the Week. Notre Dame has accumulated 16 weekly awards from the ACC this season - more than any other team in the conference ... Today’s game is ND’s only chance to win the ACC title. ND played as a conference member this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but will return as an independent next year and continue as an independent for a long time to come ... Clemson is favored by 10.5 points today, and should be considering their record and win margins since their loss to the Irish. For the Irish to win, they’ll need Book to play a flawless game, and for the defense to shut down Lawrence, which is no easy task ... My pick is the Tigers. My only hope is that ND keeps it respectable. An article in Friday’s South Bend Tribune quotes Irish defensive players as saying they are ready to stop Clemson’s potent offense. The Irish “D” is certainly good enough ... I’ll be back with a preview of the next Irish game; hopefully, it will be a national semifinal contest.