Notre Dame won only four games last season.
The Irish surpassed that total Saturday, earning their fifth victory of 2017 by beating North Carolina 33-10.
As No. 16 Notre Dame (5-1) enters its off week, coach Brian Kelly is pleased with the progress but stressed more work needs to be done.
"This has been about developing a mindset of our football team, which I didn't develop very well last year, so I'm pleased with that," Kelly said Sunday. "We've got to coach better and our players have to play better in the second half because five of the six (remaining) opponents are ranked currently.
"I'm pleased with where we are at the halfway point, but this is not where we want as a destination. We came into the season wanting to play for a championship, and winning championships is our mission.
The daunting remaining schedule begins with an Oct. 21 home game against No. 13 USC. No. 20 North Carolina State (Oct. 28), No. 11 Miami (away on Nov. 11), No. 25 Navy (Nov. 18) and No. 23 Stanford (away on Nov. 25) are also on the list. Wake Forest (Nov. 4) is the only team currently unranked remaining on the schedule.
The Irish will spend a portion of its week preparing for USC and some working on defending Navy's triple-option attack. Notre Dame also will use some of the week on its underneath coverage and coordinating the passing game.
It's also more time to recover from injuries. Quarterback Brandon Wimbush missed the North Carolina game because of a right foot injury. Kelly expects Wimbush will be ready for first-team reps when the Irish return to practice Wednesday.
Backup Ian Book was 17 for 31 for 146 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions against North Carolina. Deon McIntosh rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns, while Josh Adams added 118 and a TD as Notre Dame won by at least 20 points for the fourth consecutive game.
"We try to keep them grounded on their preparation from week to week," Kelly said. "That's what's gotten us to the point we're at right now: their preparation, their mindset of high-performance Saturdays one at a time.
"They've done a really good job of making sure they are not listening to the noise and really just paying attention to detail every single day. That's a hard thing to do for 18- to 21-year-olds on a day-to-day basis and they are doing a great job. We'll continue pushing them in that regard."
