Eight days until kickoff for college football’s national championship game, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and Ohio State’s Ryan Day fielded questions from the media Sunday.

Freeman was quick to downplay going against his alma mater, or previous encounters with the Buckeyes.

“This has nothing to do with the past and where I went to school,” said the third-year Irish head coach. “This is about this opportunity that lies right ahead of us. We’ve got a chance to play in the National Championship game. This isn’t about the past. This is about this opportunity we have right in front of us, and we’ll continue to focus on this opportunity right in front of us.”

As for Day, the only thing he took from the past two wins over the Irish is that his team will have to be well-prepared.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Notre Dame and certainly what Marcus has done there,” lauded the Buckeyes boss. “I think they’re a gritty group. They’re a tough group. They’re a great program. The last two years it’s been a battle playing against them, and we know it’s going to be the same way.”

Notre Dame’s injury attrition continues to be a factor. Freeman said offensive tackle Anthonie Knapp will not be available, due to the high ankle sprain he suffered in the Orange Bowl. Starting guard Rocco Spindler (ankle) and wide receiver Beaux Collins (calf strain) are both questionable as well.

“As far as the starting lineup, we’ll do what’s best for our program,” remarked Freeman. “We’ve got to figure that out. We have a week of preparation to make sure we get the right guys to start this game, and we’ll see what that is here in the next couple days.”

Ohio State is concerned about turnovers entering the title game, as the Irish lead the nation in turnover margin.

“This is a team here that we’re about to play against that has been unbelievable about creating turnovers and creating scores after their turnovers,” noted Day. “So efficiency is going to be something that we’ve got to do a much better job of in this game if we’re going to win it.”

As for Freeman, his mantra hasn’t changed much going through the playoffs and doesn’t appear that it will for the championship game.

“Everybody is going to have a plan going in, how do you make adjustments, how do you find a way to get the tough yardage that you need to get a 1st down and keep the sticks moving and take care of the football. We didn’t do a great job of that versus Penn State, and that’s probably one of the couple reasons that the game was really close. We’ve got to take care of the football, and we’ve got to find ways to run the ball.”

The national championship game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Monday, January 20. Kickoff is shortly after 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.