notre dame quarterback riley leonard says his mom inspires him with her own pregame motivation. >> but here's the catch he is sharing the brutal two word text from his mom that she sends before every game. quote you suck, he says in high school, there's a whole story behind this that he was getting tired of everyone telling him how good he was, and he needed a little motivation, a little negative motivation, right? >> yeah. there's nothing like a mom's love. i'm not sure if that would work in my house, but, you know, it works for him. apparently it is working. >> by the way, riley leonard does not suck because he's playing for a national championship, right? >> i like it. well, next, what not to do with your christmas tree? >> some people might still have their trees up. i even saw some trees, like right outside the building too, which is wild. all right. since christmas didn't officially end until epiphany, which was back on the fifth. >> yeah, but for that christmas tree, do not eat it yet. the belgian government was forced to issue a warning after one city's recycling recommendation

notre dame tied up their semi-final match against penn state with a 54-yard touchdown pass from riley leonarddown looked inevitable until penn state's drew aler was picked off. >> snap and hold, good. the kick is -- good! >> the fighting irish advance to their first national championship game in over a decade, where they will face the winner of tonight's cotton bowl. so in notre dame's last championship appearance they got blown out by alabama. that was in 2013. before the current playoff system was implemented. >> we'll see what happens from here on out. and this epic weekend of football playoffs continues in the nfl on saturday. the weekend begins with the chargers taking on the texans, followed by the third meeting this year of the steelers and the ravens. on sunday, the battered packers will begin face saquon barkley in philly. and the broncos travel to buffalo for their first playoff game in nearly a decade. and jayden daniels and the commanders head to tampa to face the bucs right here on nbc. if you didn't have plans already, now you know. you've got plenty of plans, plenty of games to

irish respond riley leonard to a wide open jaden greathouse.e defender falls down and he's gone 54 yards. tied at 24 with four and a half to go. it's still tied with under a minute to go. but penn state's drew dowler with a bad decision. notre dame's christian gray picks him off at midfield. and penn state fans they have a bad feeling about this one. and mitch jeter hits the game winning 41 yard field goal with 10s to go. notre dame wins 2724. let's have some oranges. the irish will play for a national title against either ohio state or texas, the winner of that one a week from monday. a happy young fan watching the number 24 cal women and number 21 nc state game. cal's martha suarez had three straight threes in the second quarter. finished with a double double, 17 points and 12 boards as cal wins 7871. they're 15 and two, and the stanford women beat florida state. sports on abc. seven is sponsored by (woman) oh, come on! come on! (vo) fargo lets you do this: (woman) fargo, turn off my debit card! (woman) i found it! i found my card! (vo) and a

riley leonard goes play action hits both collins for the 13 yard score and it was 13, 3 fighting irish at the half. opening kickoff in the 2nd half. and they're going to add to it. jayden harrison cuts left dew tour back. right. and look out. there he goes all the way to the house. 98 yards. what's going on with the sec? 20 to 3 notre dame. but does stick around. they try to get back here down 20 to 3 gunner, stockton. we're looking for cash. jones and cash is money. those are 2 great names right there. the final score would be 23 to 10 notre dame moving on to face and in the semi-final. interesting note, you all 5 conference champions in college football lost their game in the playoffs. so they went on 5. >> but we'll see how it goes. we're down to the semifinals and a lot of teams that had like a by yep. all of them, all of them all last was which sort of what i tell to work and maybe lay that rust humor can create yeah. why? all right. well, thank spencer. thank you, got happy new year. happy new year. >> hey court. our how you do it. need to see tonight looks kind of lonely, kind o

but on opening drive, riley leonard takes it in himself, runs the middle for a touchdown, capping off a historic 18 play. 75 yard drive the longest scoring drive in championship game history. 2nd quarter now tied at 7 on first and goal is on justin's. you see him here to get the handoff breaks a tackle breaks another tackle and dives in for the touchdown. the buckeyes, they take the lead on that one was justin's wasn't there in the 3rd quarter. he gets another kerry another touchdown. 3rd of the night 11 carries 2 receptions and 121 total yards. but jenkins, ohio state just pouring it on at this 0.11, every bit of it with this celebration. now, later in the 3rd notre dame trailing 24 this point. but later passes it jaden greathouse. he spins and gets away from his defender. nothing the pretty much green grass in front of so he fakes his way to his house. it's a 34 yard today. the fighting irish, they would convert the two-point conversion a little later as they inched a little bit closer. and then later in the 4th. fighting irish right here down by 16 and later launched the down the f

notre dame tied up their semi-final match against penn state with that 54-yard touchdown pass from riley leonarddrew aler was picked off by christian gray to set up the go-ahead field goal for mitch jeter. the fighting irish advance to their first national championship game in over a decade. that's where they will fe the winner of tonight's cotton bowl. that will either be texas or ohio state. they play tonight in the cotton bowl. >> we'll see how that shakes out. and this epic weekend of football continues in the pros saturday. nfl wildcard weekend begins with the chargers and texans, followed by the third meeting this year of the steelers and ravens. the battered packers will look to avenge their loss to saquon barkley and eagles in philly, and two rookie phenomes will look to do the impossible. weekend action wraps up as jaden daniels and commanders head to tampa to face the bucs. we'll see how that shakes out as well and who's on to the next round. >> no action for now for the chiefs. they're sitting back going, who we going to play? >>> when we come back, jeni's ice cream going green, but n

lebron james, the ohio native, back in the buckeyes who led 31-7 and then this fourth quarter play, riley leonarda name, what a catch! his second touchdown cut the buckeyes' lead to eight with over four minutes to play. here's your game. ohio state third and 11 and they dialed up the 56-yarder, freshman star jeremiah smith with a huge grab from will howard, ate time on the clock and held back the irish 34-23 to win his first natty since 2014, oh, and buckeyes head coach ryan day, one time 49ers quarterback coach in 2016. >>> nba and the warriors, no draymond green. they hosted the celtics this afternoon. remember the dubs celebrated their fourth title in the curry era after they beat boston in 2022? well, since then the two teams have gone in different directions. >> seems like an eternity ago. we done had a lot of different iterations of the team since then. hopefully we can get back to that feeling. we got a long way to go. >> the celtics showed curry and company how far they have to go. dubs shot 32% from the half and trailed by 15 at halftime. curry finished with 18 points. it went from bad t

the nittany lions going crazy up. 24 17 notre dame response riley. leonard has a wide open. jason, great past. his defender fell down. that makes another defender fall. a 54 yard touchdown. we're tied at 24 states under a minute to go same score penn state ball andrew hour makes is costly. mistake. dangerous past intercepted by christian grey and notre dame is in business. set up in penn state territory. eller can't believe it. penn state fans can't believe it. fighting irish are going to take advantage. mitch jeter from 41 yards. a chance to give them the lead with 7 seconds left and it is good. notre dame goes in front. one last chance for penn state desperation. time. they got to i don't think this is worth since the cal stanford play notre dame advances to the national championship game for the first time since 2013. we'll take on the winner of ohio state and texas to play tomorrow. well, in an exciting game in college hoops in santa clara tonight, they were hosting. >> oregon state game wasn't decided until the final seconds of overtime in ot beavers led by one parcel f

irish respond riley leonard to a wide open jaden greathouse. the defender falls down and he's gone 54 yards. tied at 24 with four and a half to go. it's still tied with under a minute to go. but penn state's drew dowler with a bad decision. notre dame's christian gray picks him off at midfield. and penn state fans they have a bad feeling about this one. and mitch jeter hits the game winning 41 yard field goal with 10s to go. notre dame wins 2724. let's have some oranges. the irish will play for a national title against either ohio state or texas, the winner of that one a week from monday. a happy young fan watching the number 24 cal women and number 21 nc state game. cal's martha suarez had three straight threes in the second quarter. finished with a double double, 17 points and 12 boards as cal wins 7871. they're 15 and two, and the stanford women beat florida state. sports i'm dan >> but there are restrictions. the promotion applies exclusively to new uber for teens accounts, and it's good for six free rides, each worth more than no more than

the two quarterbacks, will howard and riley leonard, were roommates at a football camp last summer. but there will be no friendship on the field at 7:30 eastern tomorrow night when the college football playoff national championship game kicks off on espn, linsey. >> linsey: game on. all right, will, thank you. >>> there's still much more ahead on "world news tonight" this sunday. the new warning about bird flu after the virus is found in a commercial poultry facility in georgia. >>> and the road to super bowl lix narrows. who is still in the hunt to play in the big game. touch can mean so many things. even for people with moderate-to-severe eczema. touch can make two feel like one. or simply be a helping hand. dupixent can help you stay ahead of eczema as you welcome the feeling of touch. dupixent helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin. some even achieved long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after the first dose. severe allergic reactions can occur. get help right a

riley leonard a one yard run to cap off a drive.rish buckeyes answer fire with fire. then more fire. will howard, the jeremiah smith jogs in. seven seven game. howard 14 of 15, 144 yards, two tds. that's just in the first half to quinshon judkins to make it 21 seven at the half. lebron james a big buckeye fan. judkins opens the second half with a 70 yard run. takes it the rest of the way. a few plays later, he scored three times. ohio state is the first 12 team national playoff champion. 3423. not really a surprise that the defending nba champion celtics beat the warriors today, but the 40 point defeat was the dubs most lopsided home loss in 40 years. draymond green and jonathan kuminga both out, hurt. steph curry hobbled into this game with ankle and thumb injuries, but steph still had 18 points in 27 minutes right before the half. former cal star jaylen brown inside for two of his 17. celtics up by 15 at the half. blowout alert blowout alert. all celtics all the time. kristaps porzingis being guarded by steph who's like a foot sho

riley leonard a one yard run to cap off a drive.re. then more fire. will howard, the jeremiah smith jogs in. seven seven game. howard 14 of 15, 144 yards, two tds. that's just in the first half to quinshon judkins to make it 21 seven at the half. lebron james a big buckeye fan. judkins opens the second half with a 70 yard run. takes it the rest of the way. a few plays later, he scored three times. ohio state is the first 12 team national playoff champion. 3423. not really a surprise that the defending nba champion celtics beat the warriors today, but the 40 point defeat was the dubs most lopsided home loss in 40 years. draymond green and jonathan kuminga both out, hurt. steph curry hobbled into this game with ankle and thumb injuries, but steph still had 18 points in 27 minutes right before the half. former cal star jaylen brown inside for two of his 17. celtics up by 15 at the half. blowout alert blowout alert. all celtics all the time. kristaps porzingis being guarded by steph who's like a foot shorter. zinger at 18. brown for thr

quarterback riley leonard powering in for the touchdown. after that, it was all ohio state.ill howard leading his team to touchdowns on their first four possessions. they were up 31-7. the irish did fight. they cut the lead to eight late in the fourth. great touchdown catch by jaden gradehouse. on a crucial third down, ohio state's star receiver freshman, jeremiah smith, came up huge. a 57 yard catch, helping to seal the win. running back judkins scored three touchdowns. ebuka finishes as the buckeyes' all- time leader in receptions. 34-23. ninth win in school history. will howard was named mvp. >> you have to give all the credit in the world to those guys, man. they fought their tails off, and we knew they were going to come give us a fight, man. i wouldn't be here without my teammates, without my family, without everyone that bet on me back in downing town, pennsylvania. man, i'm at a loss for words right now. >> they're my motivation. my family at home, wife and kids, then these guys. it's why i get up in the morning every day, just to try to make sure these guys reach th

i was struck by notre dame quarterback riley leonard. notre dame beat penn state.p to the national championship. leonard knows who is in charge of that game and his life. watch. >> what changed offensively until you guys started moving the football in the second half. >> shoot. i just started trusting the lord i looked up jesus whatever your will is i trust 100 percent. this offense and team trust in jesus and his plan for the season. >> laura: football and faith, raymond, works together. >> the coach also restored the entire team praying together going to mass before games. something notre dame had done away with brought it back and later converted to catholicism himself. >> laura: i love him. >> raymond: the quality of this team how they so gel, i think you just heard the secret sauce. they pray together. and look you were discussing with my powell mel earlier. faith is making a comeback, laura. whether it's the times we are in or rise of evil. people are willing to defend their faith. this week and only fans star who regularly records herself sleeping with stran

shot taken by riley leonard, down to the ground. >> lara: but after clearing concussion protocol, leonardup the game 24-24. >> leonard throws, wide open! scores! >> what was coach's message to you in the locker room? >> yeah. he said history is written by conquerers. >> lara: and notre dame's coach, marcus freeman, making some history of his own. >> you are the first black head coach to go to a national championship game in college football. congratulations. [ cheers and applause ] just hearing that response alone. how much does this mean to you? >> you know, i said this before. i don't ever want to take attention away from the team. it is an honor, and i hope all coaches, minorities, blacks, asians, white, no matter, great people get opportunities to lead young men like this. >> lara: so very happy for coach marcus freeman. as we said, it did look like penn state's game. whatever coach said to those fighting irish in that locker room at halftime, it worked. notre dame came out with a different mindset in the second half. despite my nittany lions playing their hearts out, notre dame was r

but on opening drive, riley leonard takes it in himself, runs the middle for a touchdown, capping off a historic 18 play. 75 yard drive the longest scoring drive in championship game history. 2nd quarter tied at 7 on first and goal is quinshon judkins. you see him here to get the handoff breaks a tackle been breaks another tackle and dives in for the touchdown. the buckeyes, they take the lead on that one was justin's wasn't there in the 3rd quarter. he gets another kerry another touchdown. its 3rd of the 9 to 11 carries 2 receptions and 121 total yards. but jenkins, ohio state just pouring it on at this 0.11, every bit of it with this celebration. now, later in the 3rd notre dame trailing red. 24 this point. but later passes it jaden greathouse. he spins and gets away from his defender. nothing the pretty much green grass in front of so he fakes his way to his house. it's a 34 yard today. the fighting irish, they would convert the two-point conversion a little later as they inch a little bit closer. and then later in the 4th. fighting irish right here down by 16 and later launched th

and on the very next play, riley leonard to bo collins for 13 yards. last minute of the half to lead 13 three at the half. they get the opening kickoff to start the second half. jayden harrison gets it on the two. turns on the jets 98 yards later. notre dame has scored 17 points in 54 seconds. it's all irish. they win 23 to 10 and will play penn state in the semifinals next week. on the hardwood. the warriors looking to jump above 500 with a win over the 76 ers tonight steph curry is starting tonight despite dealing with a right thumb sprain. this injury is a new one. curry played in the last two games for the dubs. no secret that when he's on the court this team is just much better right. good news is draymond green probable. unfortunately brandon podemski he remains a no go. tip off set for 7 p.m. to the ice. now. tonight marks the halfway point of the season for the sharks who welcome in the tampa bay lightning. some good news for team teal. veteran defenseman marc-edouard vlasic is back in the lineup. he hasn't played at all this season with an upp

but on the opening drive, riley leonard takes it in himself, runs the middle for a touchdown, capping a historic 18 play. 75 yard drive the longest scoring drive in championship game history. 2nd quarter tied at 7 on first and goal is quinshon judkins. you see him here to get the handoff breaks a tackle been breaks another tackle and dives in for the touchdown. the buckeyes, they take the lead on that one was justin's wasn't there in the 3rd quarter. he gets another kerry another touchdown. its 3rd of the 9 to 11 carries 2 receptions and 121 total yards. but jenkins, ohio state just pouring it on at this 0.11, every bit of it with this celebration. now, later in the 3rd notre dame trailing by 24 this point. but later passes it jaden greathouse. he spins and gets away from his defender. nothing the pretty much green grass in front of so he fakes his way to his house. it's a 34 yard today. the fighting irish, they would convert the two-point conversion a little later as they inch a little bit closer. and then later in the 4th. fighting irish right here down by 16 and later launched the

sawyer, for that quarterback will howard who was actually roommates, you may have heard, with riley leonardhio state to that win over -- sorry. led notre dame to that win over penn state to get here, getting into their first title game in over a decade, and looking now to win the irish their first title since 1988. coach marcus freeman used to play at ohio state. there's a whole lot of connections here. these are two of the most successful programs in college football history. the second and fourth winningest teams of all-time, they write another chapter everyone ready to go? this is the trophy. this is the ring. 7:30 eastern on espn, guys. >> robin: i'm predicting it's going to be a classic. we'll be right back. y... tired.. itchy, burning... my dry eye symptoms got worse over time. my eye doctor explained the root was inflammation. xiidra was made for that, so relief is lasting. xiidra treats the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. don't use if allergic to xiidra and seek medical help if needed. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort, blurred vision, and unusual taste s

later in the fourth, riley leonard finds a wide open jaden greathouse connects and takes it all the wayhouse of 54 yard touchdown, and the game is tied at 24. 12 seconds left mitch jeter for the win. the 41 yarder is good, and notre dame goes on to win 2724. they're going to face the winner out of the ohio state and texas game in the national championship tomorrow night. the 49ers search for their next defensive coordinator has officially begun, the team confirming today that they have interviewed robert saleh, the former jets head coach who also called for the niners defense for four seasons, including their super bowl run back in 2019. the niners say they also interviewed the detroit lions defensive back coach, but saleh appears to be the frontrunner here for this position. more interviews are planned in the coming days. meantime, the raiders are looking for a fresh start. general manager tom telesco has been fired two days after head coach antonio pierce was let go. telesco was hired by the raiders less than a year ago. before that, he spent a decade with the l.a. chargers. the raide

but on the opening drive, riley leonard takes it in himself, runs the middle for a touchdown, cappingistoric 18 play. 75 yard drive the longest scoring drive in championship game history. 2nd quarter tied at 7 on first and goal is quinshon judkins. you see him here to get the handoff breaks a tackle in breaks another tackle and dives in for the touchdown. the buckeyes, they take the lead on that one was justin's wasn't there in the 3rd quarter. he gets another kerry, another touchdown. 3rd of the 9 to 11 carries 2 receptions and 121 total yards. but jenkins, ohio state just pouring it on at this 0.11, every bit of it with this celebration. now, later in the 3rd notre dame trailing red. 24 this point. but later passes it jaden greathouse. he spins and gets away from his defender. nothing the pretty much green grass in front of so he fakes his way to his house. it's a 34 yard today. the fighting irish, they would convert the two-point conversion a little later as they inch a little bit closer. and then later in the 4th. fighting irish right here down by 16 and later launched the down th

riley leonard keeps it and rushes right up the middle for the one yard touchdown.re dame capping off an 18 play drive and takes the early lead seven nothing. second quarter same score. will howard finds jeremiah smith wide open for the eight yard touchdown. we're all tied at seven 33 seconds left now in the second quarter. buckeyes up 14 seven. it's howard once again scrambling here. and then connects with quinshon judkins in the end zone for a six yard touchdown. lebron james not on the hardcore tonight. he's loving it in the stands. buckeyes up 21 seven at the half. fourth quarter notre dame down 3115. leonard throws it deep to jaden greathouse for the 30 yard touchdown. the irish would go for two. looking to make it a one score game. that was a little trickery there as jordan faison finds beau collins in the end zone. that's a two point conversion. it's 3123. under three minutes left, though in the fourth quarter. same score. third and 11 howard launches it to smith there. that was a 56 yard gain. the buckeyes tack on the field goal and win the national title 34

notre dame though answers riley leonard to jaden greathouse.s going to take it 54 yards to the house for the touchdown to tie it up. then under a minute to go penn state trying to get in field goal range. but drew allar picked off by christian gray. it was a great job by him to keep his hands under that ball. the irish would then get into field goal range and mitch jeter wins it for them. 2724 was your final. we knew this was going to be a heavyweight fight, and that's a really good team. >> we just faced that wasn't going to quit, but i told our guys, we've been here, we've been right here in this position before. >> and they believed and they got their job done. history is written by conquerors. we're holding the pen. >> we decided how we want to write our history. >> and, you know, i'm a firm believer in whether you think you can or you can't do something. you're right. we believe that we can do it. and we went out there and did it. >> all right. so notre dame will now face the winner of tonight's semifinal between ohio state and texas in th

then they got a strip sack and recovered the fumble while riley leonard.e would then hit beau collins for a 13 yard touchdown before halftime. and then notre dame. they got the second half kickoff and jayden harrison would take it 98 yards for the touchdown. so the irish with 17 points in just 54 seconds of game time. georgia would never recover from that. notre dame would end up winning the sugar bowl by a final of 23 to 10. >> i'm proud of this coaching staff. i'm proud of this team. i love this university. it's an honor to be a part of this place. >> shout out to the defense. >> they played outstanding and that's a really good team we played. so man i'm just so grateful for this opportunity. this is a beautiful thing and and a dream come true. >> all right. so notre dame now moves on to face penn state in the orange bowl next thursday. the winner of that is going to take on the winner of texas ohio state for the national title in the nba. meanwhile, jimmy butler's days in miami appear to be numbered. butler scored just nine points last night in the heat

i was struck by the clarity and faith the other night of notre dame quarterback riley leonard last night. notre dame, of course, beat penn state, won a trip to the national championship. but leonard knows who's in charge of that game and his life. watch. >> what changed offensively? >> so you guys started moving the football in the second half. >> shoot i just started trusting in the lord. >> i looked up and said, jesus, whatever your will is for my life, i trust it 100%. and i know that this, this offense and this team trusting jesus and his plan for this season. >> yeah, football and faith. good to see that works together. >> well, i mean, yeah. well, you know, marcus freeman, the coach also restored the entire team praying together, going to mass before games, which is something notre dame had done away with. he brought it back and then later converted to catholicism himself. when people marvel at the unity and the and the improvisatory quality of this team, how they so gel. i think you just heard the secret sauce. they pray together, day together. and look, you were discussing with m

he's been able to heavily utilize the transfer portal as well, getting his quarterback riley leonard from duke, bo collins, their receiver from clemson, even their place kicker mitch jeter. coming from south carolina. we saw him with that game winner against penn state. so being able to elevate the recruiting while still maintaining the high academic standards that notre dame has to stick to is really, really impressive. and the other big thing is i think that he's really created this belief within this notre dame locker room that not only are we supposed to be playing on these big stages, but we're supposed to be winning on them as well. and i think that's permeated throughout the notre dame fan base as well. so it's been incredible to see. he's just 39 years old, one of the younger head coaches in college football. so that's been incredible. but for ohio state on the other side, that's legacy building too. >> oh yeah. there's an existence of a legacy. >> absolutely ohio state they last played in this game in 2020 just four years ago. so they've been on this stage before. but you ha

. >> reporter: the underdog, quarterback riley leonard leading a nearly ten-minute opening drive. the end zone! and ohio state makes it two for two and takes the lead. >> reporter: notre dame head coach marcus freeman who starred as a linebacker for ohio state in college trying to will his team to a comeback. >> touchdown, notre dame! >> reporter: be buckeyes quarterback and offensive mvp will howard had other ideas. running and throwing his squad to a 34-23 victory. >> i can't believe god gave me the chance to be a buckeye. there is nothing like it. >> reporter: ohio state's triumph coming two months after their stunning loss to arch rival michigan. but with the new 12-team format, the buckeyes making the most of their second chance at glory. >> everyone thought we were down and out. we knew we weren't. we knew what we were still capable of. >> reporter: and will howard is actually a graduate student who spent the first four years of his college career at kansas state. and when eanouned his decision to join the buckeyes, he emphasized his goal was to win a national championship.