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Some members of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish may have to do their best Michael Jordan impression on Thursday.
The flu is reportedly going around the team, just hours before their College Football Playoff semifinal against Penn State.
On3 Sports reported that “those who have it have it bad, but it sounds like that’s mostly backups and special teams players.”
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A detail view of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo is seen at the 50-yard line on the field in action during a football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sept. 23, 2023 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. (Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Other reports since indicate that the illness has subsided in recent days, but players are not out of the woods yet.
The Fighting Irish are riding high headed into Thursday’s Orange Bowl after taking down the second-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the quarterfinal last week.
Notre Dame earned the seventh seed in the bracket, which got them to host a home game against No. 10 Indiana. That was a rather easy victory, but Thursday may just be their toughest test yet.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish cheerleaders run down field bearing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo in action during a game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Stanford Cardinals on Oct. 12, 2024 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. (Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Penn State held Boise State star running back Ashton Jeanty to just 104 rushing yards last week, his lowest of the season. That is not necessarily great news for the Irish, considering Riley Leonard had just 90 yards passing against the Bulldogs.
The Nittany Lions are the sixth seed in the bracket.
The Fighting Irish’s season seemed to be dead in the water after losing at home to Northern Illinois in the second week of the season, but they have since rattled off a dozen consecutive wins to find themselves just one victory away from their second national title game in the last 15 years.
However, if they can get by what seemed to be a program-altering loss at the time, a bug seems to be just a minor speed bump.
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This is the third time the Fighting Irish are in the playoffs, having lost in the semifinals in both 2018 and 2020.
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