Notre Dame star running back Jeremiyah Love is expected to to be ready for Thursday's Orange Bowl game against 6-seed Penn State after practicing this week, Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said Tuesday.

The Orange Bowl will feature the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (13-1) taking on the No. 5 Penn State Nittany Lions (13-2) on Thursday, January 9, 2025 for a spot in the College Football Playoff

As kickoff for the 2025 Orange Bowl between Notre Dame and Penn State approaches, the point spread has grown. At Fan Duel, Notre Dame opened as a 1.5-point favorite over the Nittany Lions immediately following the Fighting Irish victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Now just 48 hours before kickoff in Miami, that number has increased.

Notre Dame and Penn State have traveled shockingly similar paths to reach this year's College Football Playoff semifinal. Both are amongst the sports blue blood class of schools, both have struggled to find any kind of national success in recent decades,

How to watch Orange Bowl College Football Playoff game between Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Penn State Nittany Lions Thursday, with time, TV channel.

Golic, who played for the Fighting Irish, sees plenty of similarities between the teams, including the narratives surrounding them.

There are no doubts left about Notre Dame's authenticity. Thanks to an inexplicable early season loss to Northern Illinois, and the fact that their independent status precludes them from competing for a conference title,

Notre Dame won't score 20 points in regulation, but neither will Penn State. Yes, Georgia was playing their backup quarterback, but the Fighting Irish were locked in on defense in the Sugar Bowl, and they completely shut down Indiana as well. Penn State is going to have a lot of trouble getting anything going on offense.

Notre Dame star RB Jeremiyah Love is expected to start against Penn State in the first CFP semifinal after injuring his knee.

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love is expected to start Thursday in the Orange Bowl against sixth-seeded Penn State, enabling the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish and their trademark ground game to operate at — or near — full capacity in the first College Football Playoff semifinal.