LANDOVER—On a night in which Notre Dame blew a 21-point lead and its youthful defense surrendered 454 yards, coach Brian Kelly still found reason to smile.Mostly because the sixth-ranked Fighting Irish somehow found a way to beat Navy 49-39. ”As a coach that’s really all you can ask for, to win a football game and give a lot of young guys experience,” Kelly said Saturday night. ”And then, not have to play Navy against until next year.” Everett Golson became the first player in Notre Dame history to throw for three touchdowns and run for three scores. The Irish (7-1, No. 10 CFP) needed that kind of performance to win, because their defense had no answer for Navy’s triple option. ”It ended up being a game where we outscored them,” Kelly said. After Notre Dame ended its first four possessions with touchdowns, the Midshipmen (4-5) tallied 24 straight points to move ahead 31-28 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter. ”It’s a long game,” Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds said. ”You see time and time again, teams fighting back from 20-something points down. It’s just one play at a time. Just keep fighting.” Golson put Notre Dame back in front with a 3-yard burst into the end zone, and a 25-yard touchdown run by Tarean Folston made it 42-31 with 12:22 remaining.No, it wasn’t over yet.Two missed field goals by the Irish kept Navy’s hopes alive. The Midshipmen took advantage by scoring a touchdown and 2-point conversion to close to 42-39 with 4:18 remaining, but the onside kick failed and Golson wrapped it up with an 8-yard TD run with 1:27 to go.The game was quite similar to last year’s, a 38-34 Notre Dame win. Painfully similar, as far as Reynolds was concerned. ”It’s disappointing,” he said. ”I’m tired of being almost close to beating Notre Dame. We just didn’t make enough plays. We have to point the finger at ourselves.” The Irish have won four straight in college football’s longest continuous intersectional rivalry and now lead the series 75-12-1.