Notre Dame Prepares For A Different Kind Of Challenge vs Northern Illinois

Irish hope to avoid a homecoming letdown against NIU Huskies

Aug 31, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) is tackled by Texas A&M Aggies defensive back Jayvon Thomas (14) in the first quarter at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Each week presents a different challenge in a college football season

A week after collecting the biggest win of the Freeman era, Notre Dame returns to South Bend to open up the home slate against the NIU Huskies. The challenge for the Irish this week is very different than their mission last week, yet is every bit as critical.

Can Notre Dame avoid a "letdown" moment after a very emotionally and physically draining week 1 victory? Can they continue building momentum and confidence in front of the eager home crown or will this turn into the latest "Marshall" moment?

These are Notre Dame's goals for this week's game

Being back in welcoming Notre Dame Stadium and facing an opponent with much less raw talent than last week's, the Irish hope to be able to work on parts of their game without feeling as if they need to be perfect to win.

As long as Notre Dame takes this mission seriously, it's a great opportunity to improve.

Notre Dame should have a few goals to accomplish in this game. Continuing to gel along the offensive line will be a weekly priority. I hope to also see the Irish try to grow their intermediate and downfield passing games which weren't a big part of the gameplan Week 1.

Defensively, Notre Dame needs to keep building out its rotations, sub-packages and look for ways to make a great defense even better.

Expect a big win from the Irish this week in front of a grateful home crowd.

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