Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman’s press conference transcript for Penn St. [Video]

Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman held a press conference Saturday morning at Notre Dame Stadium, providing a first look at Thursday night’s College Football Playoff semifinal matchup with Penn State.

The two teams clash Thursday at 7 p.m. EST (ESPN) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., under the Orange Bowl banner.

Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.

OPENING STATEMENT

“I want to start off, again, by thanking the Sugar Bowl and New Orleans for hosting us. It was a great environment. Thursday seems like forever ago, but it was a great moment for our entire program. I want to make sure I give due credit to Georgia and coach [Kirby] Smart. I tried to tell him after the game, but those moments can be so brief and chaotic. But the job he’s done leading that football program in these past, I …