Phil Mafah's career day leads Clemson past No. 15 Notre Dame - ESPN

CLEMSON, S.C. — Phil Mafah ran for a career high 186 yards and two touchdowns in relief of the injured Will Shipley as Clemson held off No. 15 Notre Dame 31-23 to end a disheartening two-game losing streak Saturday.

The Tigers (5-4) came in with more losses in a season than it had in 13 years and still stinging from the radio criticism of «Tyler from Spartanburg,» who called out Dabo Swinney and drew a strong, even hostile rebuke from the coach that apparently fired up the whole group.

Mafah ran for scores of 41 and 1 yard, the last putting Clemson ahead 31-16 in the third quarter. Notre Dame drew within one score on Sam Hartman's 26-yard scramble score.

That's when Clemson's special teams and defense closed things out. Four times after that, the Tigers downed punts inside the Notre Dame 15 — including a nifty quick kick by quarterback Cade Klubnik — and the Irish (7-3) could never get out of the hole.

Notre Dame got a last chance when Mafah fumbled with 1:47 to go on its own 22. After a first down, Hartman threw four incompletions to give the ball back to the Tigers with 58 seconds left.

Clemson ran out the clock and set off a celebration for Death Valley fans that had little to cheer about this season.

Swinney finally moved past the late Frank Howard in all-time Clemson wins with 166 after missing his first two chances to move in front. The loss continued the nightmarish Clemson experience of Notre Dame's Hartman, who's teams were 0-5 vs. the Tigers while at Wake Forest.

Klubnik threw for 109 yards and a 9-yard TD to Tyler Brown and linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. stepped in front of a Hartman pass for a 28-yard pick-six score that put the Tigers ahead 24-6 in the second quarter.

Hartman finished 12 of 25 for 146 and