Irish Breakdown

Marcus Freeman Sees Notre Dame Taking Rat Poison As Key Factor in Loss to Northern Illinois

The Notre Dame head coach thinks his team was guilty of reading a few too many press clippings last week
Nick Shepkowski|
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman jogs the field during warm ups before a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Northern Illinois at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in South Bend.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman jogs the field during warm ups before a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Northern Illinois at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in South Bend. | Michael Clubb / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame's Week One win at Texas A&M was about as good of victory any team in the nation had.

As a result, the nation of sports talkers was high on Notre Dame, rolling out the red carpet for the Irish to essentially walk into the College Football Playoff.

Just one slight problem:

Nobody told Northern Illinois.

Northern Illinois then came to Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday and for the most part had its way with the Irish for the better part of 60 minutes. Despite the 16-14 final score, Northern Illinois dominated the game and was in control for the vast majority.

So what exactly went wrong?

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman met the media on Monday and mentioned what Fighting Irish fans are already well aware of.

"We have to learn how to handle success" said Freeman, "Everybody says you're going to the playoff, you've got an easy schedule. I think we started to believe that."

Northern Illinois celebrates its upset victory over Notre Dame
Northern Illinois celebrates after winning a NCAA college football game 16-14 against Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in South Bend. | Michael Clubb / USA TODAY NETWORK

As Nick Saban would call it when he was busy leading Alabama to national championship after national championship - rat poison at its highest level.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who helped his team have a huge blowout win at Michigan this weekend, even used Notre Dame as an example of how not to handle success.

Notre Dame now looks to rebound from an epic loss as it travels to Purdue to renew an old rivalry this Saturday afternoon.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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