Notre Dame and Indiana get 1st taste of playoff football under the Friday night lights
Sports
Except the Irish (11-1) know this one is different.
TEXAS (AP) – Marcus Freeman spent his first two seasons as the Notre Dame coach chasing the playoff dream.
This year, he’s living it — at home.
After closing the regular season on a 10-game winning streak and getting two weeks to prepare for the most meaningful postseason game of his career, Freeman is finally ready to lead the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish against 10th-seeded Indiana on Friday.
“We’ve been in the playoffs since Week 3,” Freeman said,
alluding to their postseason hopes following the stunning loss to Northern Illinois. “Every game we play is a version of a playoff game in our minds. We have to continue to understand that you don’t have any more added pressure than you’ve had the previous 10.”
Except the Irish (11-1) know this one is different.
Notre Dame hasn’t made a national championship run since 1988, its longest title drought since winning the school’s first in 1924. And unlike previous playoffs, the Irish will be playing the first game on campus in College Football Playoff history.
