Back when he was in college, Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman desperately wanted to become a national champion with Ohio State. Sixteen years after his graduation, he gets his chance to achieve that dream against his alma mater.

As a Buckeye, Freeman twice came one game short of bringing a national title to Columbus. He was on both of Ohio State's back-to-back runner-up teams in 2006 and 2007, but, nearly two decades later, does not think much of it.

“That was then [and] this is now,” Freeman told CBS Sports' Brandon Marcello. “There is nothing that I can use from that game that's going to really resonate with this team. This team has to make sure we focus on preparation these last 48 hours. When the game starts, we've got to do what we've done all year, but probably do it better than we ever have.”

Ohio State faced Florida for the 2007 national title and LSU the following year. Both were in the BCS National Championship Game that governed the sport before the formation of the College Football Playoffs. The Buckeyes were dominated in both years, losing 41-14 to the Gators and 38-24 to the Tigers.

With a win over Penn State in the Orange Bowl, Freeman returns to the National Championship Game, this time as a coach. The appearance will also be Notre Dame's first national title game since they lost to Alabama in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game.

Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman's Ohio State football lineage

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates a touchdown scored during the first round of the College Football Playoff between Notre Dame and Indiana University at Notre Dame Stadium on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in South Bend.
MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Freeman started as a linebacker for Ohio State from 2006 to 2008. He played alongside James Laurinaitis, who will coach against him in the National Championship Game as the Buckeyes' linebackers coach.

After graduating, Freeman briefly pursued the NFL but never played a regular-season snap. Subsequently, he ventured into coaching, returning to Ohio State to begin his next career. In 2010, Freeman served as a graduate assistant under former head coach Jim Tressel.

Freeman began his full-time coaching career the following year, following Darrell Hazell to Kent State. The young coach stopped at Purdue and Cincinnati over the next decade before Notre Dame hired him as its defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2021. The following year, he was promoted to head coach after Brian Kelly left for LSU.

Freeman will now face Ohio State for the second time in as many years with Notre Dame. The Buckeyes won the previous matchup in 2023 when the Irish infamously deployed just 10 defensive players on the final play of the game.