Marcus Freeman has a huge job in front of him as he takes the Notre Dame Fighting Irish into the national championship game Monday night. While he and his coaching staff have been strategizing ways to find a way to get the best of favored Ohio State, his roots go back to his time with the Buckeyes as both a player and a graduate assistant.

Freeman was a linebacker for the Buckeyes and he played three seasons for former head coach Jim Tressel from 2006 through 2008. He also started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State under Tressel.

The former Ohio State coach remembers Freeman well, and he had advice for his former player and assistant. Not necessarily advice on how to beat Ohio State, but how to cope with the opportunity of playing in the title game.

“You never know how many of these you get, so you want to make sure you feel good about how you perform,” Tressel said, per CBS Sports. That's the hard part of coaching. You remember vividly when you didn't do well, and sometimes you gloss over the times when it worked.”

Tressel's advice also went to Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis. Freeman and Laurinaitis played together at Ohio State and the two are close friends away from the field. Freeman hired Laurinaitis as a graduate assistant at Notre Dame before Ohio State hired him.

Freeman, Notre Dame have to figure out how to slow down Ohio State's offense

August 31, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel walks the sideline before Saturday’s NCAA Division I football game between the Akron Zips and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium.
Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Past affiliations will not matter once the game kicks off Monday at 7:30 p.m ET, and the Notre Dame defense has a huge job at hand. The Buckeyes have been on fire during the postseason. Head coach Ryan Day's offense lit up Tennessee for 42 points and then followed up with a 41-point effort against top-seeded and previously undefeated Oregon.

The Buckeyes earned their spot in the national championship game with a 28-14 victory over Texas. Ohio State has a plethora of offensive stars that the Notre Dame defense will have to contain. Ohio State quarterback Will Howard has completed 292 of 402 passes for 3,779 yards with 33 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Freshman Jeremiah Smith is his best receiver and must be a priority for the Fighting Irish defense. Smith caught 71 passes for 1,227 yards with 14 touchdowns. In addition to Smith, Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate are both game-changing receivers.

The running game is in the hands of TreVeyon Henderson, who rushed for 967 yards and 10 touchdowns. He is joined by Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins, who rushed for 960 yards and 12 touchdowns.