For the first time in 2016, the Fighting Irish will take the field in Notre Dame Stadium. And while so many changes are taking place in the house that Rockne Built, the thrill stays the same for players getting a chance to run out of the tunnel.
“We talk all the time about what it is to be part of Notre Dame’s football program and how special that is,” head coach Brian Kelly said on Thursday. “Just being in the Stadium (Thursday), they clearly feel the energy and what it’s like to come out of that tunnel. It’ll be exciting. There’ll be a lot of adrenaline flowing. It is for me too every time I go out of that tunnel.”
A young team that’ll be relying on a lot of freshman will experience that for the first time. And in a feature for NBC Sports, Malik Zaire, James Onwualu, DeShone Kizer, Nyles Morgan and other Irish players talk about what it’s really like to play for Notre Dame.