Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said after the Irish beat Stanford

The Notre Dame football program ended the 2023 regular season on a high note Saturday night in Palo Alto, Calif. The No. 18 Fighting Irish defeated Stanford 56-23 to secure a 9-3 record. Afterward, coach Marcus Freeman addressed the media in his postgame press conference.

Freeman spoke to reporters for about 8 minutes. Here is everything he said.

Opening statement:

“It was really amazing to be able to celebrate that victory with that group of guys. We put a huge emphasis on finding a way to get that Legends Trophy back. I don’t care if you were here last year or you weren’t; I wanted to remind this group how important this rivalry is to both institutions, to everybody that’s associated with Notre Dame and how much you want to make sure that Legends Trophy got returned to South Bend.

“Our guys went out and earned it. They earned it. As I told them, ‘I wasn’t upset about the effort that we played with to start the game. But we got to take care of the ball. We have to take care of the ball.’ They did a couple of things on offense that we have not seen. They made some big plays. But our guys were able to regroup — come out of the locker room with the intensity that we needed, and finish this game off the right way.

“So really proud of this group, special special group. And really proud of the way we finished off this regular season.”

On his halftime message to the team:

“It was on offense, ‘Just take care of the ball.’ Hand the ball to the officials is what we say. It means don’t turn the ball over. Defensively, we had to make some changes. It was, ‘Here are the corrections; now go execute.’ Special teams, they got to be special. You can’t turn the ball over on special teams.

“So don’t beat Notre Dame. That’s something you’ll hear me say often: as long as we don’t do that we have a chance to be really successful every game we play.”

On his televised exchange with Notre Dame running back Audric Estimé before halftime:

“Well, we have communication before that series that it’s a two-minute situation. Gi’Bran’s (Payne) been our two-minute back. I said, ‘Good, let’s go. Keep ’em in there.’ I get a little bit frustrated when we put the ball on the ground and kind of got on him and Coach (Deland) McCullough a little bit like, ‘Hey, the standard of the room is to hand the ball to the official. I know they reviewed it and called it a touchdown.’ They have a high standard for making sure we have great ball security, and I reminded them of the standard that we have.

“But Audric (Estimé) is a tough, physical, special football player. Obviously, he’ll have a decision to make here after the season on what he’s going to do. I’ll tell you what, man, he is a special talent who has given Notre Dame everything he’s had for the past three seasons. So, I’m grateful to have him and have him be a part of this team.”

On the improvement since the Tennessee State game:

“I think you try not to be so outcome-driven. If you don’t look at the outcome, you say this team definitely has improved tremendously. There are a couple of games between Tennessee State, and now that we wish we could run it back and then do it over, but we can’t. But we’ve learned, and we grew.

“We’ve grown from those mistakes and those opportunities. I’m so proud of this team. We’re chasing to reach our full potential. That’s something you’ll hear me say. We haven’t totally got there. But dang, we were pretty close today. We got a couple of weeks you’re ready for this ballgame, whichever one we go to.”

On tightening up on defense after allowing big plays:

“I can’t remember every single play. But one of them they had a unique formation where they put the running back in the B-gap and leaked him out on a deep pass — something we haven’t seen. I told the coach before the game, ‘He’s done a great job.’

“Looking at what they’ve done this year at Stanford offensively, what they’ve done at Sac(ramento) State, what he’s done there. They’ve done a really good job in terms of their offensive scheme.

“So, very challenging. (Defensive coordinator) Coach (Al) Golden, the defensive staff did a great job of correcting mistakes and making sure our players execute.”

On Notre Dame defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste:

“I’m so proud of him. (He) came here for an opportunity. He’s taken full advantage of it. He’s truly been a great example of a guy who has improved throughout the season and is playing his highest level of football right now.

“So it’s a testament to his hard work and his relationship with (defensive line) Coach (Al) Washington — what he’s done with him. I’m glad to see he’s reaping the fruits of his labor.”

On Estimé channeling motivation after being snubbed from the Doak Walker Award semifinalist list:

“We all are competitors. We all find different ways to motivate us. I’m sure that motivated him. And as I tell them, ‘I want it to motivate you to work. Motivate you to do the proper work that it’s going to take to get the outcome you want — we all want.’

“I tell them every time, ‘Everybody wants. We all want more, we all want greater, but not everybody is willing to work.’ I know he was motivated, and I just continue to remind him, ‘Be motivated to prepare and be motivated to work and then you’ll get the desired outcome you want on Saturdays.”

On the Notre Dame offensive line:

“To see Ashton Craig and Billy Schrauth, and they played obviously for us last week in their first starts, they’re just getting better and better and better. It’s a great testament. You don’t know when your number is going to be called. But you got to be ready. And their number was called last week and they performed at a high level.

“You seen them this week continue to stack on that performance that they had last week. (Offensive line) Coach (Joe) Rudolph has done a great job with that offensive line. That unit is tough because you’re such a cohesive unit. When you add two new guys in Week 11 to the starting lineup, it’s a challenge. But they put the work in, and they performed really well.”

On if he would have left Estimé in the game knowing he was inching toward a single-game rushing record:

“No, I didn’t know that. If he came up to me and said, ‘Coach, Can you leave me in because I’m 24 yards away,’ that would have been a decision I had to make. But there’s two things, right? I want to do what’s best for Notre Dame but also what’s best for Audric too. But I did not know that.

“I knew he was getting close to the single-season TD record. He set that. … 238 is a lot of yards. I don’t know what record he was chasing, but that is a heck of a performance. … He’s a good player.”