Stanford’s season is going downhill in a hurry.

The Cardinal suffered their third straight blowout defeat Saturday, allowing 49 unanswered points in a 49-7 loss at No. 11 Notre Dame.

The result follows a 40-14 loss at Clemson and a 31-7 home loss to Virginia Tech. Next up: No. 25 SMU (5-1) at Stanford Stadium, where the Cardinal are winless against FBS opponents under second-year coach Troy Taylor.

“It’s demoralizing for sure when you’re a competitor,” Taylor said. “You’re going to feel that way, probably for 24 hours, and then as a competitor you focus your attention on the next opponent.“So that’s just the way it works. If you lose you have to be able to move on. We have a long season ahead of us, lots of opportunities. So this one hurts, obviously, but we’ll bounce back and be ready to play next weekend.”

The return of Ashton Daniels, who missed the Virginia Tech game with a lower leg injury, did nothing to jumpstart an offense that has not been able to throw downfield.

Daniels finished 8 of 13 for 74 yards as Stanford failed to complete a pass of more than 20 yards for the second straight week. Star receiver Elic Ayomanor was held to three catches for 16 yards.

Daniels did run for 27 yards on the opening drive of the game, which was capped by a 1-yard TD run by short-yardage quarterback Justin Lamson.

But the closest Stanford got after that was to the Notre Dame 33 – and that was as time expired in the first half.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame (5-1) scored touchdowns on seven of eight possessions until it kneeled down on the Stanford 8 to end the game.

The Fighting Irish had no trouble against a run defense that had allowed 88.2 yards a game (12th in the FBS), running for 229 yards and four scores. Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard also completed 16 of 22 passes for 229 yards and three scores.

Down 21-7 at the half, Stanford got the ball first to start the third quarter. But instead of using the halftime break to regroup and cut into the lead, Stanford came out with breakdowns in all three phases, exemplifying the issues the team has been having recently.

First, Tiger Bachmeier misplayed the kickoff, causing Stanford to start at its own 3. Then, the offense turned the ball over when Daniels’ option pitch was caught by a Notre Dame defender and returned to the 17. The Fighting Irish needed just two plays to score and make it 28-7, and the game was essentially over.

“It’s tough when you turn the ball over,” Taylor said. “These are good enough defenses that (even) if you don’t hurt yourself, it makes it difficult. We have to improve in all areas to be honest with you.”

Cardinal players were not made available for comment after the game.

The game was delayed by an hour after the third quarter, but that did nothing to slow Notre Dame’s momentum.

The Fighting Irish had an 11-play, 60-yard TD drive to start the fourth and finish the scoring.

At no point after the opening drive did Stanford look like the team that won at Syracuse on Sept. 20 — or pulled an upset at Notre Dame Stadium two years ago.

“They outplayed us in all three phases,” Taylor said. “They’re a better football team than us and it showed. But we’ll lick our wounds and we’ll be ready to play next week.”

Things won’t get appreciably easier for the Cardinal, though. SMU’s only loss was against undefeated BYU. The Mustangs had a bye this week following its win at then-No. 22 Louisville.