The Notre Dame football team hasn’t been here, specifically before because this is the first time the College Football Playoffs has included 12 teams. It’s the first time the school got a win in the first round and they weren’t yet playing for a championship.
The Fighting Irish have been here as far as looking like a team that could win the championship. The last few times they’ve been there, they’ve fallen short. That’s actually been one of the arguments against ND the last few years. They don’t know how to close the deal.
However, senior defensive lineman Howard Cross III is among those who thinks this time is different for Notre Dame football. This time, there’s enough confidence around the team that they’re going to beat Georgia. And then they’re going to keep going.
Notre Dame football has the confidence to win this time around
Earlier this week, in meeting with the press before next week’s game, the star defender was asked about the differences.
Specifically, Cross III was asked if this Notre Dame team has more belief in itself to beat a team like Georgia than it did when playing the Bulldogs in 2019 and Alabama in the 2020 playoff.
Both of those games turned out to be losses for the Irish. However, Cross replied that he does think things will turn out differently this season.
“Yeah, yeah. For sure,” Cross replied. “We have a confidence about ourselves, for sure.”
That has yet to be seen. But there definitely seems like a different vibe around the Notre Dame football team. 11 straight wins will do that. So will romping in the first round of the playoffs against a team that was considered a Cinderella squad. Now they just need to close the deal and win the Sugar Bowl. Should they do that, the sky could be the limit.