There are 14 undefeated teams remaining in the AP Top 25, with Notre Dame being one of them at 4-0. The main reason for Notre Dame’s early season success has been the play of quarterback Everett Golson.

Golson, 21, was kicked off the team last year for academic fraud. His absence was definitely felt, as Notre Dame went 9-4 following their title game run of a year before. Tommy Rees started in place of Golson, and while he didn’t play horribly, he wasn’t Golson.

Rees threw for 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, but completed just 54 percent of his passes. It was evident that Notre Dame was missing a dynamic aspect to their offense.

In Brian Kelly’s high-speed spread attack, it’s beneficial to have a dual threat quarterback like Golson. Kelly is definitely happy to have his guy back.

“There’s a confidence that he carries with him that is starting to emanate,” Kelly said. “And that’s going to only get better and better.”

Up unto this point, Kelly has been right. The senior is an early Heisman candidate, with 1,142 yards, 11 touchdowns and only two interceptions. Golson has also completed nearly 70 percent of his passes while having a 164.6 QB rating.

This past Saturday, Golson had a record-breaking night against Syracuse. He broke a school record of 25 consecutive completions, but he also had four turnovers.

“I just have to get better. I have to clean up a lot of things,” Golson said.

Before the Syracuse game, Golson didn’t have a single turnover. Brian Kelly realizes there’s going to be some up and downs throughout the season as he gets back into the flow of things.

“Good and bad,” Kelly said of Golson’s performance. “There’s a lot to learn from.”

If Notre Dame has aspirations of making the four-team playoff, one thing is for sure, they’ll need Golson to take his game to another level. The Irish haven’t faced the meat of their schedule yet, but that’s going to change starting this Saturday when they play host to 14th ranked Stanford.

Kelly is confident in Golson’s ability to take it to that next level.

“When you take it to the next level, you continue to do those things well, but you also give your team an opportunity to be a big playmaker,” Kelly said. “That’s definitely what Everett has become there.”

Two years ago when Notre Dame reached the National Championship game, the heart and soul of that team was their defense, led by Manti Te’o. Fast forwarding to this year, the vocal point is their offense, which means more responsibility for Golson.

“This year we’ve got to score points,” Kelly said. “So Everett now has to be a playmaker for us. We didn’t ask him to be a playmaker really two years ago. So maturity, understanding of the offense, and really putting him in that role of being the playmaker is the difference from two years ago.”

With the likes of Stanford, Florida State, Arizona State and USC remaining on the schedule, Kelly is going to need Golson at his best, as Notre Dame will go as far as he takes them.