Marcus Freeman strongly pushes back against Notre Dame using past as motivation in National Championship

Notre Dame had the chance to sit and watch the Cotton Bowl and see which team they’d play in the National Championship Game. Ahead of that game, Irish running back Jeremiyah Love shared that he wanted to play Ohio State after dropping games to the Buckeyes in the last two seasons.

Despite that, head coach Marcus Freeman pushed back on the idea that there should be added motivation from those past games. Instead, he wants his team to be looking forward to the opportunity at hand.

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“If you need that to motivate you to get ready for this game, then you’re not the right person,” Marcus Freeman said ahead of the National Championship Game. “That’s the reality of it. We don’t need motivation to be prepared for this game. We’ve got a chance to play in the National Championship Game. This isn’t about the past. This is about the opportunity we have right in front of us and we’ll continue to focus on this opportunity right in front of us.”

In 2022 and 2023, Marcus Freeman and the Irish faced off against Ryan Day and the Buckeyes in a home-and-home series. The more recent of those games, which was played in South Bend, saw Notre Dame fall short by not putting an 11th player on the field for Ohio State’s game-winning score. It ended up being a loss on the smallest of margins that players like Love seem to be using as motivation.

“If there’s learning opportunities from other games or previous games, absolutely we’re gonna use them. If it’s gonna help us be more prepared for what’s going to happen in this game, we’re gonna use it,” Freeman said. “But it isn’t for motivation at all.”

Notre Dame hasn’t won a national championship since 1988. In the time since then, the Irish have finished in the Top 5 of the AP Poll six different times. On nine occasions, they’ve finished in the AP Top 10. They’ve also played for a BCS National Championship and made the four-team College Football Playoff twice. Now, the Irish have another opportunity to win another national championship.

The National Championship Game between Notre Dame and Ohio State is set to be played on Monday, January 20th at 7:30 p.m. EST.