Audric Esteme (4 TDs), No. 18 Notre Dame pound Stanford

Audric Estime rushed for 238 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 18 Notre Dame to a 56-23 win against Stanford in the regular-season finale on Saturday evening in Palo Alto, Calif.

Estime has 18 rushing touchdowns on the season, breaking the single-season school record.

Sam Hartman passed for 140 yards and two touchdowns for Notre Dame (9-3), which has won four of five.

Stanford quarterback Asthton Daniels completed 15 of 25 passes for 152 yards and an interception.

Justin Lamson rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown for the Cardinal (3-9).

Both teams traded leads early on.

Joshua Karty booted his third field goal of the first half, a 56-yarder, to move the Cardinal back ahead 16-14 with 8:57 left before halftime.

Notre Dame followed with its second 10-play, 75-yard drive of the first half. This one was also capped by a touchdown run by Estime, a 6-yarder that moved the Fighting Irish in front 21-16 with 3:53 remaining in the half.

Notre Dame then intercepted a pass and marched to the 3-yard line with 22 seconds remaining.

Gi'Bran Payne took a handoff and reached for the goal line, losing the ball as his hand hit the turf. The ball was recovered by Stanford and initially ruled a fumble, but after a reply review it was determined Payne had broken the goal line, resulting in a touchdown and a 28-16 lead at the break.

The second half belonged to the Fighting Irish, who scored touchdowns on their first three drives.

Estime scampered into the end zone on a 5-yard run to make it 35-16, Hartman hit Jordan Faison on a 45-yard strike for a 42-16 lead and Estime scored on a 25-yard run to extend it to 49-16.

Notre Dame's special teams also contributed, as Javontae Jean-Baptiste returned a blocked field goal 60 yards for a touchdown.

Lamson scored on a 4-yard run with 7:16 left to trim the lead to 56-23.