Notre Dame Fighting Irish College Football Pregame Quote, 12/30/2024

Q. Back to the NIU game, how were you guys able to refocus and regroup?

JORDAN FAISON: Yeah, I think you learn the most about your team and kind of the guys around you at your lowest points. And we showed kind of who we were after that game. After that loss, obviously, it was devastating. Everyone felt bad about it. Being able to bounce back shows the team and the grit we got overall. And being able to come back the next week of practice, have the best week of practice we had arguably all season, was something special about this team.

Q. What was Coach [Marcus] Freeman’s message?

JORDAN FAISON: It was just ignore the noise around you. Stay within our family, our little brotherhood that we got within the locker room and keep doing what you are doing and keep working.

Q. Was it a matter of just tightening things up and eliminating mistakes going forward, or was there anything that schematically had to change or –

JORDAN FAISON: I think it was just finding the flaws within how we practiced that week and kind of what we were going through that week and identifying the problems and getting rid of them. Coach Free (Marcus Freeman) told us to eliminate all distractions and anything that was possibly being a distraction for our season, and we took that to heart.

Q. Was it a matter of not being focused against NIU coming off of A&M?

JORDAN FAISON: I would say coming off A&M, we were kind of high on our horse, highest of high, and then you go to the lowest of low. And being able to turn that around was indescribable.

Q. What do you see on film of Georgia’s defense?

JORDAN FAISON: Yeah, they are very good. They have athletes all over the field. Top-end guys. It’s definitely going to be a challenge out there. We have prepared for them the entire week. It should be a good match-up.

Q. What has Riley Leonard brought to this team?

JORDAN FAISON: He’s been amazing. Just being a dude in the locker room, on the field and then off the field as well. He’s just a leader. Especially at quarterback, he’s athletic, being able to extend plays. You don’t see that much around the nation, and he just sees the ball.

Q. I guess just from a student media perspective, right, we’re here just to bring coverage of the students, right? What would be your message to your students? A lot of seniors are coming in this week. What is the message to the fans going to the game?

JORDAN FAISON: Obviously, last week, the IU game in the Bend was electric. That was probably due to the fans and the students all together, and then for students coming out, kind of have that same energy. It really helped us. You’re basically a part of the team. So keep that going.

Q. Amazing game for you. Postseason Jordan Faison is somebody else. Talk about what you have been able to do in the postseason from last year to the opening round of College Football Playoffs.

JORDAN FAISON: It’s all preparation and taking the opportunity that you were given. Obviously, last year in the Sun Bowl, I was able to get the starting spot with a couple guys not playing, and then I was able to do the most with the opportunity that I got. then getting into the IU game, obviously me and Riley [Leonard], we were connecting, and the opportunities I had with the ball, I was able to make plays with them. That’s really it, preparation.

Q. When you look at a two-sport athlete, win a national championship with lacrosse. How has your lacrosse affected your ability to play football?

JORDAN FAISON: They go hand in hand. Obviously, the athletic piece, they are both pretty good athletics. And taking pieces of being a receiver and having a defender in your face and seeing safeties moving is the same as having defender in your face in lacrosse. You are dodging against that, and the defense behind them is sliding. They go hand in hand, and they both help me tremendously.

Q. Heard from any of your lacrosse teammates as you’re making this journey to the College Football Playoffs?

JORDAN FAISON: Yes, they text me almost every day, before the games too. Good luck out there. We will be watching, which is awesome.

Q. Will you take any of the kind of experience from being in postseason for lacrosse – you played in the national championship game last year. Do you take any of that mindset experience into the Sugar Bowl this week?

JORDAN FAISON: For sure. We had the same journey we had in football in lacrosse. We lost to a team that we weren’t supposed to lose to and then had to win out to make playoffs, and we have the same thing here. The journey is pretty up many the same, and I would like to continue it.

Q. The same sort of mental response after the loss to pick yourself back up?

JORDAN FAISON: Right. Exactly. It’s almost like that loss was needed.

Q. Is it hard to pick up? I guess you have been playing lacrosse for a long time. But walking in, potentially like two weeks into camp, is it hard to pick up? Does it say a second?

JORDAN FAISON: The first couple of days, it’s hard, but then you get back into what you have done your whole life.

Q. I’m sure you have been asked this a million times, are you a better football player or lacrosse player?

JORDAN FAISON: I would say they’re pretty equal. I would say both equal. I started playing football earlier than lacrosse, but I’m glad to be doing both to the fullest of my capabilities.

Q. When did you start playing lacrosse?

JORDAN FAISON: I started playing lacrosse probably when I was 8 or 9. Yeah.

Q. Are you an attackman in lacrosse?

JORDAN FAISON: Midfield.

Q. Are there things that help, like, short area, quick, things that are transferable to both, foot work?

JORDAN FAISON: Yeah, 100%. Foot work, hand/eye coordination, playing with a little ball and then catching the ball in football. And then also kind of the playbook aspect and seeing defenses as well. In football, you have a nickel or quarter line and safety is rotating as well; and in lacrosse, you are dodging the guy that is guarding you. And then you have the defense sliding and stuff. So those two go hand in hand.

Q. You don’t think about all of that, but that makes 100% sense. Did you know when you came to Notre Dame that you were going to do both?

JORDAN FAISON: Yes, I got recruited for lacrosse my junior year. I was committed here my junior year. Then my senior year, I picked up offers for football. And I had to make a decision. I asked my lacrosse coaches if I could do both, both as an option at Notre Dame. They said 100%. Talked to the football coaches, and we were able to work out a deal and give me a spot on the team and I could make the most from there.