The playoff semifinal Thursday night against the Nittany Lions (13-2) will mark the deepest into January that Notre Dame has ever played; one more win would extend the Irish's longest season to 16 games. Coach Marcus Freeman responded by reducing the amount of contact at practice to keep players fresh, good training for the NFL's 17-game schedule.

After emotion-filled days leading up the game at the Superdome, a football game was played. And Notre Dame’s defense dominated it.

Among those that picked against Notre Dame, was one of the emerging mouthpieces of college football, On3's JD Pickell. Pickell is fair for the most part when it comes to breaking down games, and he definitely had his fair reasons to pick against the Irish. Although he has picked against Notre Dame many times this season ... I digress.