Marcus Freeman reveals how losing national championships at Ohio State can help Notre Dame

Marcus Freeman has seen this national championship movie before, both losses with Ohio State when he was a linebacker.

So what was the message to his Notre Dame team as they prepared to face his alma mater? Focus on the present.

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Freeman acknowledged his two championship losses weren’t fond memories but he and the Irish are focused on 2025, not 2006 and ‘07. 

“I explained to them, when we got into the start this week, that I played in two of these games, and I lost both of them,” Freeman said, via Sirius XM. “Those are the memories that I have of being a part of this game is losing both of them, and now I’m in a different position than I was in being a player, but that’s the memory I have of both national championship games. 

“And, you know, those aren’t great memories, you know? This opportunity is about this opportunity, and that’s what I tell them all the time. This isn’t about where I played in college. This isn’t about the previous two games we (had) against Ohio State, this is about this opportunity right in front of us, and we got to stay focused on putting ourselves in a position to have success on Monday.”

Ohio State won a national title more recently though, during the first College Football Playoff a decade ago.

Freeman knows the history with Notre Dame, which is without a national title since 1988.

“Yeah, when I think about this journey and this season, there’s a lot of gratitude I have to be on this journey with not just the players but with all the coaches and the staff, the men and women that are involved in our program and the efforts they’ve put into us being in this position,” Freeman said. “When I think about this last guaranteed one, we started the season talking about reaching our full potential, and we’ve got one guaranteed opportunity to do that.

“Let’s continuously put all the work we can into these last 48 hours or however many hours we have left to prepare for this moment and then go play. Go play. You’ve got a chance to play in the National Championship game. Enjoy the opportunity.”