How Notre Dame Turned a Loss to NIU Into College Football Playoff Motivation

Notre Dame used its shocking loss to NIU as fuel to refocus, dominate the season, and secure a College Football Playoff spot.

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates with players at the end of the game against the Southern California Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Emotional roller coaster first two weeks

The start of the 2024 football season for Notre Dame was a wild and emotional rollercoaster. After the Irish's impressive physical victory in College Station over Texas A&M, the Irish were the talk of college football.

It's hard to argue any team had a more impressive week one win. Notre Dame was getting respect from all corners of the country and justified it's preseason top-five ranking.

But just one week later, everything came crashing down when Notre Dame was upset by Northern Illinois, at home, as nearly a 30-point favorite. In just a one-week span, the Irish went from CFP contender to national laughingstock and CFP outsider.

The question from this point on became, how would Notre Dame respond to this nightmare?

Notre Dame paid Northern Illinois $1.4 million to play them in South Bend today.

Northern Illinois just won 16-14.pic.twitter.com/plADc2lYF3

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) September 7, 2024

Notre Dame has not lost since and is riding a 10-game winning streak

Marcus Freeman and his Irish team had a choice to make. Roll over and accept that the season was ruined thanks to the Huskies and go 8-4 or 9-3, or, vow to get better each week and not lose again. Option two was selected and manifested into reality as the Irish won their last 10 games of the season locking in a hosting CFP spot.

Freeman was a changed man after week two. After utilizing the very "Holtzian" motivational tactic of repeatedly showing his team the lowlights from the NIU game, his team improved weekly.

Even through injury, this team never wavered the rest of the season and has just punched its ticket to the CFP.

It sounds insane to suggest that the NIU loss was a good thing for the Irish. But in retrospect, looking at how things have turned out, in many ways there's evidence to support the argument. Playoff evidence.

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