'Starts with me': Marcus Freeman now 0-3 as Notre Dame coach after stunning home loss to Marshall

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Steven Gilmore returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and Khalan Labron ran for 163 yards as Marshall shocked No. 8 Notre Dame 26-21 Saturday, making Marcus Freeman the first Fighting Irish coach to lose his first three games.

Gilmore, the brother of Stephon Gilmore of the Indianapolis Colts, picked off a pass by Tyler Buchner with 4:35 left, raced to the end zone and then jumped into the stands where Marshall fans were already celebrating the victory.

Marshall (2-0), the first Sun Belt Conference team to play at Notre Dame Stadium, beat a team ranked in the top 10 for just the second time in school history. The Thundering Herd beat No. 6 Kansas State 27-20 in 2003.

«I'm really proud of the way our players competed. Notre Dame is a hell of a football team,» Marshall coach Charles Huff said in his postgame, on-field interview. «Hats off to them, but our guys all week just said 'control what we can control.' I couldn't be more proud.»

Freeman, the 36-yeard-old first-time head coach who was promoted after Brian Kelly left for LSU, had lost a bowl game to Oklahoma State and at Ohio State last week.

Marcus Freeman is the first head coach in Notre Dame history to lose his first three games: the Irish's bowl game, season opener vs. Ohio State and now Marshall. pic.twitter.com/vzxE3DNa4y

This one will go down much differently to hopeful Notre Dame fans, many of whom packed the stadium. In all three of the losses, Notre Dame led in the second half.

Earlier in the day Saturday, after the pregame walk across campus, Freeman told the crowd «there's no better place in this country to get our first win of this new era than here in Notre Dame Stadium.»

The Irish had a streak of