T-R GRAPHIC

ORLANDO, Fla. — For just the second time in program history, the Iowa State football team is headed to a bowl game for the third season in a row.

And for the first time ever, the Cyclones will be facing off with the University of Notre Dame.

Iowa State (7-5) and the No. 15 Fighting Irish will meet on Dec. 28 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla., in an 11 a.m. game televised by ABC.

“To be able to play an opponent like this and that is how the season ends, we’re really fortunate because we get to play in this conference some tremendous programs that have great legacies,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said. “This is a program that’s got one of the greatest legacies in college football and to be able to go and compete with them on this stage I think says a lot about where we’re at, it certainly says a lot about where we want to go, and it’s certainly going to be a great challenge for our kids and our program.”

Notre Dame (10-2) is headed to a bowl game for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons and the 36th time overall. Iowa State is headed to a third-straight bowl game for just the second time in program history (2000-02) and the 15th postseason appearance ever.

The Cyclones are 4-10 all-time in bowl games while Notre Dame is 17-18.

Iowa State finished in a tie for third place in the final Big 12 Conference standings after breaking school records in total points (409), touchdowns (53), total offense (5,504 yards) and passing yards (3,820). The Cyclones are on pace to set school records in scoring offense (34.1) and yards per game (458.7) as well.

Jack Trice Stadium also welcomed three sellouts this season and broke its record for home season attendance with an average of 59,794 fans per game.

“It takes all of us,” said Campbell. “That’s one of the things that’s really neat is this whole thing has had the ability to elevate us to a really prominent stage again. I think we’ve learned a lot and grown a lot. We’ve grown through this fan base but I think there’s been a lot of growth inside our walls too, and all of it’s kind of collectively come to a great moment again for this football program to be on a really special stage and a really special moment for Iowa State athletics.”

Notre Dame posted its third-straight 10-win season after finishing with a 45-24 victory over Stanford on Nov. 30. The Fighting Irish finished the year ranked among the top-15 nationally in both scoring offense (37.1 points per game) and scoring defense (18.7), highlighted by wins against three teams in the final College Football Playoff rankings (USC, Virginia and Navy).