As Notre Dame football prepares for its first Friday night game and first home playoff game in program history, all sorts of luminaries have hit campus. In fact, there are so many visitors to campus that one of the most famous scenes from Friday morning is the traffic jam on snowy streets as hundreds of people tried to get in and start their tailgating.
ESPN College GameDay is also on campus doing their thing ahead of the 7pm game. And of course, alongside Pat and Kirk and the rest is Peter. That would be Peter Herbstreit, Kirk’s young golden retriever pup who gets to accompany his dad all over the country following the sad passing away of Ben.
It appears Peter was so excited to be in South Bend that he decided to really check out what all the fuss was about just ahead of the Notre Dame football game. According to South Bend Tribune photojournalist Michael Clubb, Peter wandered away from the College GameDay set and started introducing himself to anyone and everyone he met.
While waiting to receive my ESPN College GameDay credential, @KirkHerbstreit ‘s dog Peter escaped set and began roaming Notre Dame’s campus. Much to fans’ excitement. He was eventually wrangled back onto the bus. @SBTribune @SBTsports @AustinRHough @MikeBerardino @tnoieNDI pic.twitter.com/h9SO2AGu5Q
— Michael Clubb (@MichaelClubb4) December 20, 2024
Notre Dame football fans get to greet a special visitor ahead of Friday’s big game
Clubb captured a bit of Peter’s wanderings, snapping photos of Irish fans clearly thrilled to see the cute pup wandering about clad in a Los Angeles Chargers bandanna he likely picked up at Thursday night’s NFL game between the Chargers and Broncos.
Eventually, Peter was rounded up and herded back to his bus, but it appears that he had a nice visit to the see what all the fuss around Notre Dame football was about before being ushered away like the star he is.