Notre Dame-Ohio State showdown brings out LeBron James, Zeke Elliott and other stars

The Week 1 matchup between the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes has been circled on the calendar of college football fans for quite some time.

The game isn’t short on storylines, either, as first-year Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman makes his regular season coaching debut in prime time against his alma mater.

Ohio State opened as a 17.5-point favorite, according to Caesars Sportsbook, which was news to the Fighting Irish.

2hDavid M. Hale

10hESPN

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“We’ll use that in the team meeting [Monday], it’s good to know,” Freeman said last week. “I haven’t paid much attention to the spread. But I remember the one time we were on College GameDay, I said just keep making it go up and up.”

This is the first time since 1995 that the two teams are meeting in Columbus, Ohio, and only the seventh overall, with Ohio State riding a four-game win streak. Both programs regularly send a slew of players to the NFL, so it’s no surprise that several familiar faces were spotted, especially those with ties to the home team.

Los Angeles Lakers star, Ohio native and Buckeyes megafan LeBron James was in attendance along with his eldest son, Bronny. Former Ohio State quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Justin Fields were also there along with Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, who was on Ohio State’s last national title team in 2014.

Longtime Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Pro Football Hall of Famer and Notre Dame legend Jerome Bettis made the trip to support his alma mater.