There will come a point Sunday night when Marcus Freeman wants his players focused on nothing but beating Wisconsin.
Before then, however, the Notre Dame head coach will encourage them to soak in the atmosphere.
The Irish open the 2026 season against the Badgers at Lambeau Field in the 13th game of the Shamrock Series and the first to ever serve as a Notre Dame season opener.
For Freeman, the history surrounding the venue makes the experience worth acknowledging before the focus shifts completely to the job at hand.
“Not every day or every week you get to play in an NFL Stadium with some of the history that Lambeau has,” Freeman said. “I do want them to take a minute in pregame to take it in and look around, because I am.
“I'm gonna look around and make sure that I have gratitude for the opportunity to play in that game.”
Lambeau will become the ninth different venue to host a Shamrock Series game, joining locations such as Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, AT&T Stadium and the Alamodome.
Notre Dame is 12-0 in the series, including a 41-13 victory over Wisconsin at Soldier Field in 2021. Freeman has been in charge for the two most recent Shamrock Series games, a 28-20 win over BYU at Allegiant Stadium in 2022 and a 49-14 victory over Army at Yankee Stadium in 2024.
Sunday's game also brings the Irish to a venue with several connections to the program.
Packers founder Curly Lambeau played fullback at Notre Dame in 1918 before eventually spending 29 seasons with Green Bay and leading the franchise to six NFL championships. Paul Hornung won the Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame before becoming an NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion with the Packers.
There are current connections as well.
Notre Dame tight end James Flanigan's father, Jim Flanigan, played for Green Bay in 2001, while his grandfather, Jim Flanigan Sr., played for the Packers from 1967-70 and was part of the Super Bowl II championship team.
Freshman receiver Kaydon Finley's father, Jermichael Finley, played for Green Bay from 2008-13 and was a member of the Packers' Super Bowl XLV championship team.
Freeman expects the fans to be part of what makes the experience unique and compared it to the previous matchup against the Badgers in Chicago.
“I think the environment will be really cool just because of what I experienced at Soldier Field in '21,” he said. “I expect probably a 50-50 crowd.”
But Freeman knows there will need to be a clear transition from appreciating the setting to treating it like the business trip it is.
“Take it in, absorb it, don't waste it because then I think you'll regret it if you didn't take a minute to look around and take it all In,” he said. “But as we close to kickoff, we gotta start narrowing our focus to get our job done.”
Wisconsin presents enough challenges without the Irish becoming distracted by the surroundings.
Freeman expects a physical, disciplined opponent under Luke Fickell, his former college coach and a coach Freeman worked under for four seasons at Cincinnati.
“It's going to be a great challenge for us and a great way to see where we are as a program versus a good opponent at Lambeau Field on Sunday night.”
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