Notre Dame knew it would hear his name called on Selection Sunday, quarterback said Riley Leonard I wasn’t too nervous about the day itself. He was actually ready to get it over with. By that point, he was tired of what he called 120 amateur bracketologists — er, teammates — guessing the Fighting Irish’s first-round opponent in the College Football Playoff.

“I just rolled my eyes all week,” Leonard said, smiling. “They thought they could accurately predict all 12 teams that would be in the group and knew exactly what was going to happen and who we were going to play. I heard a lot of different takes and I didn’t really care. For example, can we just come until Sunday?”

He just wanted to know who he was going to play and he wanted to get to work. Then the matchup flashed on the screen: No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 Indiana. On Friday night, under the lights in South Bend, Ind., Leonard was thrilled.

“It’s huge for the state of Indiana – we’ve talked about it becoming a football state,” Leonard said. “It’s notorious for basketball for obvious reasons.”

He smiled. This type of matchup, with such stakes, is exactly why he chose Notre Dame a year ago. He said he left Duke last year and entered the transfer portal because he wanted an opportunity to play for a national championship. He knew the 12-team CFP era would begin soon and Notre Dame would be well-positioned to make it year after year.

“Being here now is really fulfilling,” Leonard said. “You know you made the right decision. And I knew immediately that I had made the right decision, but of course this confirmation is really good. Notre Dame fans have been talking about this day since I signed – the 12-team playoffs. They were everywhere. This way we can fulfill their wish.”

That doesn’t mean everything was easy or that the path to this point was a straight path. Leonard had multiple offseason surgeries on his right ankle. He missed all of spring training. And then, after getting healthy and getting real experience in a new offense, the Irish lost to Northern Illinois in the biggest upset of the season.

The day after the defeat, head coach Marcus Freeman told Leonard something he will never forget. Freeman said there will come a day when Leonard admits he is grateful for the experience of this humbling loss. It’s been three months since the head coach delivered that message. During that time, Leonard led Notre Dame to 10 consecutive wins, many of them overwhelming, and now a playoff appearance.

As it turns out, that moment of gratitude is here.

“It’s hard for me to say I’m grateful for this, but I am,” Leonard said. “(Coach) said he was grateful for similar losses in recent years, that they helped him grow as a person. And I just sat there and said, ‘Dude, that’s not possible.’ There’s no way I’m ever going to say that.’ But here we are.

“It fueled us the rest of the year. (Freeman) always said to “hold the pain” before every game. He said, ‘Hold on to this pain because you don’t want to have that feeling again.'”

In some ways, Notre Dame was the first team in the playoffs – three months ago. The Irish have been playing “make-or-break games,” as Leonard put it, for 10 straight games. “Every game was: You either make it to the playoffs or you don’t.”

So the Irish simply didn’t lose. And now they face a team in Indiana that has also won a lot this season. The most-losing program in college football history won 11 regular-season games for the first time, one of the best stories of the entire season. The Hoosiers have experienced players who are well prepared and disciplined. They don’t beat themselves, and they never step onto a playing field thinking they’re inferior. They will be ready for the Irish; Leonard said he expected “a dog fight.”

Tickets are resold for thousands of dollars. Fans are hoping for snow. And at the end of finals week, students can look forward to the first-ever College Football Playoff game on campus.

“I wouldn’t say they’re prioritizing the tournament over the final, but it gives them hope,” Leonard said, smiling. “You have something good ahead of you.”