Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2025 61 W ith the clock showing just less than 4 minutes to play in Notre Dame's Week 14 game against USC, sophomore cornerback Christian Gray decided enough was enough. Gray, who had allowed several recep- tions and 2 touchdown passes to that point, told himself, "All right, no hold- ing back. I just gotta break through the chains." Then he shouted those words: "I just gotta break through the chains!" Then he shouted them again. And again. "That's what I said in my head, and I just screamed it out," Gray said. "Be- cause the best thing I can do is scream it out and go ball." On the next play, Gray played press man coverage on USC redshirt junior wide receiver Kyron Hudson. When the pass came in from redshirt sophomore quarterback Jayden Maiava, he was in perfect position. Ninety-nine yards later, Gray was in the end zone. "I just needed to scream!" Gray told his teammates when he took a seat on the Irish sideline. "I just needed to scream, that's it!" In seconds, Gray went from the reason Notre Dame couldn't put away USC to the hero. And in doing so, he embodied one of head coach Marcus Freeman's core values. "He had to reload," Freeman said. "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.' "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." Earlier in the afternoon, senior quar- terback Riley Leonard had to reload, too. With the Irish up by one score in the third quarter, Leonard threw his worst interception since the interception that cost Notre Dame a late lead in Week 2 against Northern Illinois. Once again, he tried to throw deep to graduate student wide receiver Kris Mitchell. And once again, he left it well short. USC redshirt senior cornerback John Humphrey picked it off and gave the Trojans a chance to tie the game. The throw was so poor that some in the press box wondered if it had been a miscommunication. Leonard's expres- sion when asked about it — essentially the "grimacing face" emoji — made it clear that it was not. "Somebody on the sideline said, 'He had enough time to fair catch it,'" Leon- ard said. "I have to work on that. I take a lot of pride in protecting the football. That can't happen." The Notre Dame defense made a stand, forcing a four-and-out and giving Leon- ard the ball back less than a minute of game time later. From the USC 23-yard line, Leonard took another one-on-one shot to senior tight end Mitchell Evans. This time, he did not miss. "To be able to respond is what Coach Freeman talks about all the time," Leon- ard said. "Reload, reload, reload. Win the interval, reload, win the interval, reload." That was, in essence, Notre Dame's season. They got punched in the mouth. They reloaded. Sure, they would be fa- vored in every game they played after NIU, but winning 10 games in a row is hard. It would be impossible if they played like they did that day again. It was more than an interception, a game-winning field goal at the other end and a blocked field goal to seal it. On Sept. 7, Notre Dame played scared. Leonard was way too tentative with the football. The defense never played be- hind the line of scrimmage. The offensive line didn't move people. No one, save for sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love early in the third quarter, made a play. Eighty-four days later, Notre Dame was fearless. Even the players who made mistakes on prior reps, like Leonard and Gray, played like they had nothing to lose when they were the team with ev- erything to lose. And that, in the end, was why they won. "I told myself, 'We can win, we can lose, but I'll never walk off the field with any regret anymore,'" Leonard said. "I feel like regret only comes from missed opportunities, not failed opportunities. "I feel like I missed opportunities 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." Notre Dame regrets nothing about its 2024 season, which is why it will end in the College Football Playoff. ✦ After giving up a pair of touchdown passes, sophomore cornerback Christian Gray "reloaded" mentally and returned an interception 99 yards for a score to put Notre Dame up 42-28 with less than four min- utes to play against USC. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Reload, Reload, Reload Staff writer Jack Soble has covered Notre Dame athletics for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2023. Contact him at Jack.Soble@on3.com. OFF THE DOME JACK SOBLE