Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 DECEMBER 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On sophomore cornerback Christian Gray: "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. OK, 'Reload, reload. Don't let the last play affect the next play.' "There's a play in the first half, I thought it was after the big catch. The next play, he kind of got the [pass interference]. 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 what he learned about himself and the team during the regular season: "I've learned so many lessons in life as the head coach of this football program. You realize time heals everything. We've been through the highest of highs and low- est of lows. 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 when he felt Notre Dame had a chance to be a spe- cial program: "I knew from the start of training camp that we had a chance to have a special program. But it's a process. You've 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 sea- son. But they continued to prepare, and they chose to put the work in and not feel bad about themselves. They believed in themselves, too." 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 rivalry game against a dang good football team. And that's the only statement I want it to make." SENIOR QUARTERBACK RILEY LEONARD … On winning 10 straight games: "I kind of told myself, 'We can win, we can lose but I'll never walk off the field with any regret anymore. I feel like regret only comes from missed opportunities, not failed opportunities. I feel like I missed op- portunities earlier in the season and that left me with regret. I didn't throw this ball or I wasn't confident or I checked out of this play because I didn't like it as much. "Now, whether we win or lose this game, I leave with no regrets." On his interception: "Somebody on the sideline said, 'He had enough time to fair-catch it.' I have to work on that. I take a lot of pride in protecting the football. That can't happen. But to be able to respond is what Coach Freeman talks about all the time. 'Reload, reload, reload. Win the interval, reload, win the interval, reload.' "But I know I gotta do a much better job. That was embar- rassing on my end." On Notre Dame's impending trip to the CFP: "Every single week, these guys prepare their tails off. I feel like we practice exactly how we play. When we have good weeks at practice, when we are throwing certain balls or hitting certain runs, it shows up like déjà vu when it gets to game time. We will be ready and very healed up for this playoff run." SOPHOMORE CORNERBACK CHRISTIAN GRAY … On what he said to his teammates before his pick six: "In my head I said, 'All right, no more holding back. I just gotta break through the chains.' That's what I said in my head, and I just screamed it out. Because the best thing I can do is kind of scream it out and then just go ball." USC HEAD COACH LINCOLN RILEY … On if Notre Dame can make a playoff run: "It's a good football team. The teams that we've played against here in my first two years, it's probably the most complete Notre Dame team that we've played. It's probably the best offensive team that they've had, in my opinion, in the last couple of years." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Sophomore cornerback Christian Gray finished with a career-high 7 tackles and scored his first career touchdown on a huge, 99-yard pick six late in the fourth quarter. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER