Live updates: Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman Week 14 press conference

Marcus Freeman, the only coach in Notre Dame history to win 11 ranked games in his first three seasons as head coach, speaks to the media Monday to recap the 11th of those, a 49-14 win over Army, and preview this Saturday’s rivalry game at Southern Cal.

Watch the press conference at 12:30 p.m. ET via the YouTube video player below. Follow along with real-time, written updates from Blue & Gold at the bottom of this page.

WATCH: Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman Week 14 press conference

What Freeman is saying

**Keep refreshing this page for real-time, written updates of what Freeman is saying.**

• Freeman says the win over Army “wasn’t your typical Saturday night in college football. It was a special one.” Yankee Stadium 100 years after the Four Horsemen rode again, etc.

• Notre Dame players of the week vs. Army: Jeremiyah Love, Adon Shuler, Bryce Young.

• Notre Dame freshman linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is out vs. USC with a knee sprain.

• Other Notre Dame injury updates: Howard Cross III is still questionable, Bodie Kahoun is out, KK Smith is out. Smith has surgery on his clavicle.

• Freeman notes USC has had the lead in the fourth quarter of every game this season. I haven’t fact checked that so I’ll take his word for it, but that is highly unusual for a 6-5 football team.

• Freeman called USC Notre Dame’s “biggest challenge to date,” which is exactly what he did ahead of the Army game last week.

• Freeman says he was not thinking about USC by taking starters out early vs. Army. He felt the game was in hand.

• Freeman says Notre Dame will leave for California on Friday.

• Freeman says Mitch Jeter has “always been” Notre Dame’s best option as a placekicker. He said he hit the 48-yard kick he missed against Army better than he struck one in several weeks.

• Freeman is asked about the possibility of having a home game over Thanksgiving weekend with the recruiting calendar changes. He says he hasn’t thought about it. Says he’s only been thinking about a road game at USC, which is an exciting opportunity.

• Freeman says his pregame comment about violence could be replaced by “physicality, speed, velocity.” He said it was an intentionality to attack Army’s option offense with a purpose.

• Freeman: “We wouldn’t be in this position if we didn’t have great coaches.” Freeman says the relationship between players and coaches is very strong in South Bend.

• Freeman on Notre Dame not having played in a close game in a while: “You don’t have to play in close games to feel the pressure of performing on ‘this play.'”

• Freeman on Notre Dame controlling its own destiny: “They know that. We know that. I know that. It’s reality.” Freeman says the noise is only loud if you let it be that way. “We control the volume of the noise.”

• Freeman says he learned the most about Riley Leonard after Notre Dame lost to NIU in Week 2. The work Leonard has put in since then has been noticeable, and he never wavered. “As a father I would want someone to describe Riley Leonard the way I view my children.”

• Freeman: “I want to win every freaking play. Every play.” He says he loses sleep thinking about Notre Dame not scoring on four-straight plays inside the five-yard line against Army.

• Freeman is confident Notre Dame will be fine at linebacker without Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. He sees someone as Jaylen Sneed who can fill the void. “Jaylen Sneed has been practicing at a level that I haven’t seen in my years that I’ve been with him.”

• Freeman says Notre Dame’s running game is so good right now because there are “bodies on bodies” in the blocking game. He catches himself in admitting maybe that was something he shouldn’t have said. “Our colored jerseys on their colored jerseys” was his self-correction.