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Irish Log Busy Day On, Off Field
Notre Dame put in its longest day at AT&T Stadium on Thursday in preparation for the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the 83rd Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
The No. 3 Fighting Irish (12-0) kicked off the morning with all players and coaches participating in the semifinal’s official media day on the AT&T Stadium field. Afterward, the team changed in the locker room and returned to practice for 90 minutes, then showered and changed again and ate lunch before leaving about four hours after arriving.
It was Notre Dame’s fourth and final on-site practice before playing No. 2 Clemson (13-0, 8-0 ACC). The team will put the finishing touches on its preparation in a Friday walk-through that is closed to the public.
From the stadium, the team went to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas to visit patients and then returned to the team hotel.
“Today was really your last day where you’re getting a couple of the mistakes out of the way that you made during the week,” Irish Head Coach Brian Kelly said. “We kind of make sure we get in all of the short-yardage plays, red zone, situational, end-of-game and a lot of special teams – a lot of detail work that needs to get cleaned up. We have a way of talking about Thursday as really our day of getting all the little preparation out of the way.”
The Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic celebrates its 83rd anniversary on Saturday, Dec. 29. Live Coverage on ESPN is set for 3 p.m. CST, with kickoff slated for 3:10 p.m.
This marks the fifth consecutive year for the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic to be a part of the ESPN bowl lineup. Sean McDonough and Todd Blackledge are set to provide the call from the booth with Holly Rowe and Tom Rinaldi reporting from the sidelines.
ESPN Radio returns as the Classic's national radio partner for the seventh consecutive year. Bill Rosinski teams with David Norrie in the booth and Ian Fitzsimmons on the sidelines to describe all the action from AT&T Stadium.
