(Notre Dame) — Notre Dame. Bill Belichick.

They are two names that scream winning football, and they collide Saturday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as the third-ranked Irish visit the 2-1 Tar Heels.

“The challenge of playing against a Bill Belichick-coached team is that they are always incredibly disciplined, and they don’t beat themselves,” Freeman said Monday. “You look at his resume—it speaks for itself. It’s an honor to share a field with someone who has contributed so much to the game of football, but our focus has to remain entirely on our execution. We know his defense will look to take away what we do best, so we have to be sharper and more detailed than we’ve been all season.”

Notre Dame feels good about its chances of doing that, thanks to quarterback CJ Carr. It’s not just that Carr has thrown for 963 yards and nine touchdowns, it’s what Carr is able to do at the line of scrimmage to keep the Irish moving forward.

“That green dot cuts off at 15 seconds,” Freeman noted of the in-helmet communication between the sideline and the quarterback. “He (Carr) doesn’t need a green dot to make his next check. That gives us an advantage. After 15 seconds, he’s not hearing anything you say, but our guy is still seeing things and makes decisions.”

He’ll need to against a Tar Heel defense that has only allowed 13.7 points per game and has collected 10 sacks.

“They have two different fronts with different personnel,” observes Freeman. “They have some big tackles that are 2-gapping and doing the things you saw him do in the NFL. Then they go to 4-down, nickel and those linemen honestly look undersized, but nobody can block them. They’re athletic and twitchy and they’re doing twists. They don’t bring a whole lot of pressures, but they’re twisting and oing some different stunts that are causing some issues.”

Meanwhile, Notre Dame’s defense currently ranks #1 in the country in total defense, allowing just over eight points per game.

“They don’t give up any big plays, they make you earn everything,” says Belichick, now in his second year at North Carolina after winning six Super Bowl titles in the NFL. “It’s a good-looking team. They play very well, make very few mistakes, only turn the ball over one time in four games, so they’re plus-eight in turnover margin. It’s a good challenge for us. We’re excited for that.”

Saturday’s game is slated for a noon kickoff on ESPN. Sports Michiana looks back at the win over Purdue, previews the Tar Heels and has a Focus on Faith with former lineman Tommy Kraemer tonight on “Notre Dame Federal Credit Union’s Irish Football Fix” at 7 pm on Pulse FM.