The Notre Dame is Personal Game For Texas A&M

The No. 16 Texas A&M Aggies are set to take their first road trip of the 2025 season and also go up against their toughest opponent to date, as they travel to South Bend to take on Marcus Freeman’s No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The Irish got the best of the Aggies is Mike Elko’s head coaching debut last year at Kyle Field, with a late touchdown run by running back Jeremiyah Love and a field goal by kicker Mitch Jeter giving the Irish a 23-13 win to kickstart their national champion runners-up season.

Needless to say, the Maroon and White didn’t take too kindly to the home loss, especially one to start what was a very hopeful season for the team.

Texas A&M "Circled This Game on the Schedule”

In his pregame press conference Tuesday afternoon, Texas A&M wide receiver Mario Craver spoke on what the game against the Irish means to the team this time around, despite the fact that he was in Starkville with the Mississippi State Bulldogs at this point in time last year.

Aug 31, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) runs the ball for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

“Oh, yeah. Everyone remembers those first two games,” Craver said. “They were opponents, but everyone knows. At the beginning of this year, we circled this game on the schedule, and this is going to be the first big game that we get to show what we can do.”

Craver himself has been on quite a roll for his new team in College Station, going over the 100-yard receiving mark in each of his first two games, and also taking a trip to the end zone in each of them as well, proving his early impact and how willing he is to keep it going in South Bend on Saturday.

“It just shows all the work that I’ve been putting in these last nine months here, and I’m going to try and keep that same pace,” the wideout said.

The former Bulldog also talked about how he and fellow star transfer receiver KC Concepcion were able to bounce off of and rely on each other on the field.

“KC’s got the rank, everyone knows about him,” Craver said. “So, like, when we go in, you already know about him. Me? I don’t really have a lot of film, so they kind of shift on him first, so I’ll kind of get going early and then we just play off of each other.”

The Aggies and the Irish kick off from Notre Dame Stadium at 6:30 P.M. Saturday night.