Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said after the Southern Cal game

The Notre Dame football team capped the 2024 regular season with a 49-35 win over Southern Cal on Saturday night. Afterward, coach Marcus Freeman spoke to the media for about 10 minutes. Here’s everything he said.

Opening statement

“Man, it was — that was a hard-fought victory. And they definitely earned it. They earned it. I’m proud of this group. It’s an honor to be a part of this football program, with these guys, with this coaching staff. To see where we were 84 days ago to where we’re at now, it’s a testament to the trust in the decisions that those guys in that locker room and the coaching staff and everybody that helps have made.

“This is what it’s all about, man. It’s the journey, right? There’s a journey, and you can’t let the highest of highs and lowest of lows deter you from what you need to do to reach your goals. So, it’s awesome.

“I’m excited. We’re going to enjoy this day. We’ll worry about the future later. I know people want to ask about the future, but let’s enjoy this victory in this rivalry game versus a really good USC team, which we knew going into the game they’re a good team. A really good team. So, proud of these guys. We’ll have a happy flight back home.”

On what it is about the way Notre Dame is wired that makes them close out games like the way they did against USC

“Eighty-four days ago was when we lost to Northern Illinois. I think somebody asked me in a press conference earlier in the week, ‘Are you worried that your team hasn’t been in close games in the past few weeks?’ And I said, ‘No.’ Because the mentality is one play, one life. Like this play is the only play that matters. So I had to continue to remind them, ‘Have the urgency that we must have, but this is the only play that matters.’ We got to execute it.

“We had some adversity, but they responded. (It was) 14-14 at halftime, the way that our guys came out of that locker room and responded, it was a sense of urgency that we didn’t have versus Northern Illinois.

“You go back and you look at the notes, that I met with the captains after that game, it was like, ‘We didn’t have the sense of urgency to panic, almost. We got to go out and execute.’ They did it today.”

On the statement Notre Dame made for the College Football Playoff committee

“That doesn’t matter to me. The statement we made was we won our rivalary game against a dang good football team. And that’s the only statement I want it to make.”

On what allowed Notre Dame to win 10 games in 10 weeks

“Leadership, leadership. Great leadership from our captains, our players, our coaches. Belief and trust in each other.

“Every game you go in and you have a little bit of doubt. That’s life. But you got to trust beyond knowing. That’s what I told those guys, and that’s what they’ve done. They put the work in. They worked tirelessly. Our preparation has been immaculate.

“So, that is hopefully the reason why we had the results that we did.”

On when they felt they had a chance to be a special program after losing to Northern Illinois

“I knew from the start of training camp that we had a chance to have a special program. But it’s a process. You got to build it. We had to go through the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the first two weeks of the season. But they continued to prepare, and they chose to put the work in and not feel bad about themselves. They believed in themselves, too.

“So, I’ve known this team has been a really good team. I told you guys earlier that it was one of those most talented rosters I’ve had since I’ve been here. But we have to become a good team, right? Talent is one thing. We’ve developed into a good team, and that’s because of our hard work.”

On what he learned about himself and the team during the regular season

“I’ve learned so many lessons in life, but as the head coach of this football program. You realize time heals everything. We’ve been through the highest of highs and lowest of lows.

“I think I told them after we lost to Northern Illinois, I said, ‘I’ve been here before.’ Maybe not everybody in that room has but I’ve been here. I know there’s only one option, ‘Let’s go back to work and take a hard look at yourself.’

“Misery wants company. In those tough times, you got to take a hard look at yourself to figure out what it takes to get your program where it needs to be, and that’s what I was able to do as an individual and the program itself.”

On staying balanced but remaining in that mode

“Listen, we have to celebrate this thing first. These guys work way too hard not to take a moment and enjoy this victory. This is what I call team glory.

“It’s when everybody in that locker room knows they have a part of us achieving that. It’s not one person. It’s everybody that it takes getting their job done for us to achieve this great feeling that we have.

“So we’re going to enjoy this today, on this flight home, and probably tomorrow. Usually, on Sundays, we move forward, but we don’t have an opponent. So, we’re going to enjoy this thing probably for two days, and then on Monday, we’ll start moving forward and getting back to work. It’s a special moment for this program.”

On what got sophomore cornerback Christian Gray to get back into it after a difficult second and third-quarter

“He had to reload. You hear me say that all that all the time, ‘Reload. Get your mind back to the place where it needs to be so you can execute.’ That was a challenge I had for the team before the game, but him specifically. Okay, ‘Reload, reload. Don’t let the last play affect the next play.’

“There was a part, there’s a play in the first half, I thought It was after the big catch. The next play, he kind of got the PI (pass intereference). Christian Gray is a great player, but he had to get back into that moment where, ‘Hey, nothing else matters but doing your job for us to achieve team glory. Don’t let anything personal affect that.’

“I’m proud of him because he did. He has faith, and he’s a really good player. He showed that in the second half.”

On the emotions of the season coming out during the singing of the alma mater

“It’s hard to put it into words, but it’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to sing alma mater, acapella, with our fans and our parents and everybody that loves this university.

“It’s just a reminder of the honor and privilege we all have to be a part of this place. It’s a special place. We got a really good football team, but we have an amazing university. I want our fans to have that same feeling that we have as players in our program.

“So it’s hard to describe that feeling, but it’s one I won’t forget.”

On what Notre Dame’s rushing output says about the offensive line

“Before the game, the challenge was, “We have to win this game at the line of scrimmage. We have to win this game up front and recognize some of the different pressures that they bring defensively.’ I thought the offensive line did a great job in recognizing and really communicating and executing.

“They played a physical, physical affair up front. They kept coming off the field saying, ‘Keep running, coach. Keep running.’ That’s a confident group that played extremely well today.”

On the Notre Dame secondary getting tested and responding with two straight pick-sixes

“It was really good. Selfishly, I was thinking about the turnover margin. We have not lost a game this year … there’s been only one game we’ve lost the turnover margin this year, and that was Northern Illinois.

“I’m like, ‘Man, this is going against everything I believe.’ I tell the team about how important turnover margin is. Because we were up in the game and down two in the turnover margins. Then, you get a pick-six. Now, you’re down one; we get another pick-six.

“They’re resilient. They battled. They are never out of the fight. That’s what you love about it, man — they compete until the clock hits zero.”

On what senior Riley Leonard’s performance over the last 10 games says about him being a College Football Playoff QB

“He’s special, man. From the beginning, from the time he got here, I’ve known he’s special. What you have to learn is how you handle the highs and the lows of what being the quarterback at Notre Dame entails.

“You hear him say it all the time, ‘There’s no difference between being the head coach and the quarterback of Notre Dame.’ He experienced that — the highs and the lows within the first two weeks of the season, and he continued to battle. He continued to prepare. I knew from the beginning he was the right quarterback to lead this program.”

On if there were benefits to losing to Northern Illinois

“Sometimes, you gotta lose the game. Sometimes that’s life — you gotta lose, at the end of the day, the game, to make a big jump.

“I told our program, I told our players Monday after that game, I said, ‘This will be the greatest thing that ever happened to this football team if we continue to — if we learn from it and continue to use it. It would be the greatest thing that can happen to us.’

“It was. It’s hard to say that the great thing that happened to this program this season was a loss because it taught us what it takes to handle success. It taught us what it takes to have success. That’s why I said, ‘Just keep the pain. I don’t want to go back to that place. We don’t need to go back there to remember how it feels, but we’ll look back and be thankful for it.'”

BOX SCORE: No. 5 NOTRE DAME 49, SOUTHERN CAL 35