SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Howard Cross III was a tourist that night in Sanford Stadium five seasons ago.
A wide-eyed freshman. Just on the cusp of making the travel squad. His father, former Alabama star tight end Howard Cross Jr., in his ear about the culture shock that he would surely encounter. And no thoughts that his number would be called that night.
“Oh, this is so cool,” the Notre Dame sixth-year nose guard recalled of that awakening on Sept. 19, 2019 ahead of a top 10 matchup with Georgia. “This is amazing.”
And intimidating, even though the Irish managed to flirt with an upset in an eventual 23-17 loss to a team that would finish No. 4 in the final AP poll that year.
The brand that’s produced two national championships (2021 and 2022) in between the Notre Dame football program’s only road trip ever to Athens, Ga., and Wednesday night’s upcoming clash at New Orleans in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals elicits much different emotions from Cross this time.
And his teammates too, when thinking about, talking about, dreaming about, preparing for the New Year’s Night clash between the the 2 seed/bye-receiving Bulldogs (11-2) and the 7 seed/IU-conquering Irish (12-1). TV start time on ESPN is 8:45 EST.
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“We have a confidence in us, for sure, and I think it’s well-founded,” Cross said Saturday of the vibe difference between the 2019 Irish and the 2024 version. “Even if it’s not confidence, it’s, for sure, excitement. Everybody is going into this game just ready to move.”
And where does that come from?
“[Marcus] Freeman,” Cross said of his third-year head coach. “The trust we have in each other as a team. Just the talent on offense and defense, and just the chemistry we have as a team. I think that’s really the main reason.”
It’s certainly built different from the 2019 Irish as well as the 2017 Irish team that lost 20-19 in South Bend to a Georgia team that would go on to play for the national championship.
And the 2012 ND squad that played dad’s alma mater, Alabama, for the national title in the old BCS format only to get steamrolled 42-14, with current Georgia head coach Kirby Smart serving as the Crimson Tide’s defensive coordinator at the time.
The common theme in those two Georgia wins and the Alabama smackdown?
The Tide outrushed — no, trampled — the Irish, 265-32 in 2012.
In 2017? It was a 185-55 command. … Even with Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson forming the left side of the ND offensive line that would go on to win the Joe Moore Award. … And a rushing attack that inspired “33 Trucking” caps in reference to lead back Josh Adams … and yet as a team managed just 1.5 per carry against Georgia, with a long run among the 37 the Irish attempted in that game of 8 yards, by QB Brandon Wimbush.
In 2019? The Irish didn’t even try to hide the fact they couldn’t run, attempting just 14 rushes, with the longest coming from QB Ian Book in the fourth quarter, a 9-yard scramble on third-and-7. The crooked bottom line was 152-46 in the rushing department, partially offset by a career receiving day on the scoreboard from Irish tight end Cole Kmet.
This Irish team entered this bowl/playoff season 10th nationally in rushing and third in yards per carry. Georgia, the most pass-reliant team in the 12-team CFP field, entered 98th in rush offense and with a yards-per-carry average (4.2) just over two yards less than ND’s.
Georgia’s rush defense, against admittedly one of the toughest schedules nationally, was 36th. The last time the Bulldogs finished with a lower national ranking in run defense — 42nd in 2015 — the head coach was purged. And Georgia replaced deposed Mark Richt with Smart.
And yet Howard Cross Jr. was on the phone again with his son, right after the Irish ended 10 seed Indiana’s charmed season, 27-17, on Dec. 20 in a first-round CFP matchup at Notre Dame Stadium.
“He said, ‘Yeah, make sure you stretch and everything, because this is an SEC team, and Georgia’s not a joke,” Howard Cross III related. “That got me excited. I was doing the scouting report, and I was telling my dad, ‘Yeah all these guys have all these accolades. This is going to be so much fun.’
“And he’s like, ‘Just get ready for the challenge.’ My dad’s an SEC guy: These are big guys. But he also has 100 percent trust and faith in me that I can pull this off.”
Even without sidekick and sixth-year defensive tackle Rylie Mills, ND’s sack leader who suffered a playoff run-ending knee injury in the IU victory, that nudges Cross even more into the central plot line along with senior Gabe Rubio, Mills’ primary replacement.
This is why Cross and Mills came back for a sixth year and deferred the NFL dream, together, even though the last game they played in tandem healthy for an entire game was ND’s 45-14 wipeout of Navy on Oct. 26.
“The big games, the great talent you’re going up against, world stage,” Cross affirmed of how that decision to return feels now. “Who doesn’t want to be in this position?”
Cross missed all but 22 snaps of a 52-3 rout of Florida State from ND’s November schedule due to a high ankle sprain. His first game back, against Indiana, the resounding 2023 All-American who garnered some scattered mention this year, played 54 snaps, one off his season high.
“We’ll look at this like game 1 to game 2 for Howard,” Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden said Saturday. “We expect a big jump for him in conditioning and really just about every aspect. He looks so much better right now.
“He’s more comfortable. I can’t speak for him, but it looks like he’s not in pain anymore. We appreciate him gutting that out the other night. He’s markedly better now. We just can’t wait to let him go.”
There’s some full-circle moments for Cross when Golden does let him go on Wednesday night at the Sugar Bowl. Cross recalled Saturday about getting thrown into some high-leverage snaps way back in the 2020 CFP semifinal loss to Alabama, 31-14.
“Personally, this is kind of a redo for me from that sophomore year,” he said. “Plays that I had against Alabama, I’m stronger [now]. I’ve got more plays under my belt. Definitely more skills.”
And then there’s the 2024 season-opener against an SEC team, Texas A&M on the road on Aug. 31, with Cross laboring through a chronic hamstring injury in the 20-13 Irish win. He played 50 snaps and recorded the worst film grade of his career from Pro Football Focus (45.3).
"I feel like every SEC team is kind of the same thing,” Cross said. “They’ve got elite talent all over the board. They recruit size, which is a big thing for all SEC teams. I'm kind of looking at [the Georgia matchup] like Texas A&M a little bit.
“Obviously the intensity, bigger stage, Georgia, but I'm kind of looking at it as that they're just big guys, they're talented, they can move."
And yet Cross — who’s NOT big by college nose guard standards (6-1, 288) — has built a résumé from overcoming doubts about what his ceiling at the college level could ever look like, including some of his own.
“My dad [and I] used to watch a cartoon and this guy was — like again, this is the nerdy part of me — but I used to be watching this cartoon,” Cross said, “and this guy is trying to fight this like overwhelmingly massive dude that nobody can beat.
“And he's shaking, and the dude's like, ‘Damn, so you're scared?' He's like, 'I'm not scared. I'm excited.' That's kind of the mentality I have right now. I'm so excited to have this opportunity.
“And again, the fact that they're one of — if not the best interior offensive line in the nation — makes me even more excited. Just being able to go out there, test my skills and just have fun. I'm emphasizing the have-fun part for me."
And not one bit a tourist.
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