College Football

Notre Dame locker room reportedly battling flu outbreak ahead of Orange Bowl

Published Jan. 9, 2025 4:27 p.m. ET

There's a flu outbreak in the Notre Dame locker room that is significant for some players but has mostly affected backups and those on special teams, according to a recent report from On3.

Other reports since indicate that the illness has subsided in recent days, but not all players are fully recovered.

Notre Dame is set to face Penn State on Thursday evening in the Orange Bowl, where head coaches James Franklin and Marcus Freeman are set to make history when their teams square off in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Penn State Nittany Lions

PSU

No. 7 seed Notre Dame is a one-point favorite over No. 6 seed PSU ahead of kickoff. It is one win away from reaching the national championship game after knocking off No. 2 seed Georgia and No. 10 seed Indiana in the earlier rounds.

Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard has the second-best odds of winning the CFP MVP at +475 (bet $10 to win $57.50 total), while running back Jeremiyah Love boasts the seventh-best odds at +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total).

It remains to be seen if the flu outbreak impacts Notre Dame's championship run.

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