Highlights: Notre Dame 24, Cal 17 — A chaotic final minute, a repeated play call and late-game dominance from the Irish defensive line

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Marcus Freeman said he had a conversation with God. Just when it looked like Notre Dame had clinched him his first win with a Clarence Lewis interception, a targeting flag on Irish captain JD Bertrand gave Cal new life. Then Freeman’s first head-coaching triumph looked to have an exclamation point as Tariq Bracy raced into the end zone with a recovered fumble in tow, only for Bears quarterback Jack Plummer to have been ruled down beforehand.

As much as Freeman didn’t want to think about the worst while Notre Dame clung to a 24-17 lead, it was only human nature.

“That’s the challenge,” Freeman said. “Our minds can drift, mine included, to the outcome, to the future, to ‘Okay, last week … if we can beat Cal,’ but you can’t work like that. The minute that happens, get your mind back to what it takes to give yourself a chance to have success.”

Freeman could at least work on the defensive play calls each time Cal got the ball back. Junior running back Chris Tyree could do nothing but watch as Plummer heaved the ball toward the end zone and it bounced through four players’ hands — credit to Jac Collinsworth for adding seven additional ‘I’s to “is” as that call (below) suddenly needed to be elongated, presumably not an intentional reference to Clay Davis’ catchphrase.

“I was telling [safeties DJ Brown and Brandon Joseph], they almost gave me a heart attack out there at the end of the game,” Tyree said. “It’s really exciting football to watch, especially when it goes down to the wire like that. That’s going to be a moment we never forget.”

Barroom hypotheticals years from now will wonder what if Cal had held onto that pass. Would the Bears have gone for two and the win sans overtime? Logically, it would have