Notre Dame’s Massive Payment to NIU Is Going Viral After Loss

The Northern Illinois Huskies collected a substantial paycheck from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and then went into South Bend to pull off the biggest upset in school history.

On Saturday, September 7, 28-point underdogs Northern Illinois shocked the crowd by knocking off the Fighting Irish, 16-14. Kicker Kanon Woodill knocked through a 35-yard field goal in the final seconds of the game to win.

With head coach Marcus Freeman in his third full season holding the keys to the Notre Dame football program, many fans thought the Fighting Irish were off to do big things this year.

The schedule set up nicely following their Week 1, 23-13 victory on the road against No. 20 Texas A&M. Notre Dame will play three more ranked opponents, one of which is expected to fall out of the Top 25 next week – Georgia Tech. The other two are No. 22 Louisville and No. 13 USC.

Fans of the Fighting Irish certainly didn't think they would have trouble in Week 2 against Northern Illinois.

USA Today reported that Notre Dame paid Northern Illinois $1.4 million to schedule a game this season. Following the Fighting Irish's loss, fans were quick to focus on the amount they paid only to be beaten at home.

Sports betting site BetMGM posted on X, formerly Twitter, a clip of the Huskies' winning moment with the caption reading, "Notre Dame just paid $1.4 million to lose at home." Only an hour after posting, the tweet has garnered 38,000 impressions.

If Notre Dame were to win out, there's still a chance for it to reach the College Football Playoff. This is the first season in which 12 teams will compete in the playoff, compared to the previous years, when it was 4 teams.

Although a loss to Northern Illinois will look daunting on their resume, it is hard to imagine leaving an 11-1 Notre Dame team out of the top 12.

Northern Illinois has a bye next week, September 14, but two weeks later, it has another opportunity to rip off another upset.

The Huskies will play on the road against No. 24 N.C. State on September 28.

Related: Legendary Program Becomes Laughingstock of College Football After Startling Loss