Heading into the Orange Bowl, the Fighting Irish are finally showing signs that they can compete at the top of the sport in the modern era.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Penn State Nittany Lions will meet in the Orange Bowl on Thursday for the right to play in the National Championship game of the College Football Playoff. The facts in that sentence alone are enough to make the game an absolute monster game — but there’s so much to this,

The Fighting Irish and Nittany Lions face off in the Orange Bowl with a national championship berth on the line.