NEW ORLEANS — Notre Dame will arrive in New Orleans on Sunday ready to make a statement.

“There’s got to be a consistency and sameness in approach to every game, and part of that is some of those values I believe in, and the only thing that matters is this game, right?” Freeman said. “One game, one life.”

The Irish will tackle Georgia in the Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinal at 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday at Caesers Superdome looking to re-establish themselves among the powers of college football.

The newly expanded 12-team playoff is down to eight teams. Boise State and Penn State face off in the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., ESPN), with the winner playing the Sugar Bowl victor in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 (7:30 p.m., ESPN).

The winner of the Texas-Arizona State Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (1 p.m., ESPN, Wednesday) plays the winner of the Oregon-Ohio State Rose Bowl (5 p.m., ESPN, Wednesday) in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 (7:30 p.m., ESPN).

It has been a challenging path for Freeman and his third Notre Dame football team since suffering an embarrassing 16-14 home loss to 7th-place Mid-American Conference team Northern Illinois the second week of the season.

“You find out the most about your team and yourself as an individual in tough times and the lowest moments,” said Freeman, once a Parade All-American recruit and Ohio State linebacker.

“What I learned about this program in its lowest moments is that they are resilient, and tough, they continue to battle, and they choose to find ways to elevate.”

It certainly hasn’t been easy, as Notre Dame’s 11-game win streak has included wins over No. 15 Louisville (31-24), Georgia Tech (31-13), No. 24 Navy (51-14), No. 18 Army (49-14), USC (49-35) and No. 10 Indiana (27-17).

The Irish knew each time out that one more loss could doom their season, their backs to the wall in every outing.

The playoff setting has served to heighten that sense of urgency even more.

“During the season, you know you have the next one, (but) in the playoffs, you gotta prepare in a way that gives your program the best opportunity to win,” Freeman said. “Put everything on the table.”

As Freeman has told his team, it has to “choose hard” every day.

“What you can’t do, I tell our program all the time is, be normal — make the decisions that normal people make …. ‚” Freeman said. “I don’t think everybody wakes up every single day and says, ‘I want to choose hard.’ I don’t think everybody wakes up every day and says, ‘I can’t wait to go and just try to find a way to be the best version of me today in practice.’

“I think that’s a decision you have to make.”

Notre Dame has made that decision with 11 wins in a row and Georgia next on deck.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – On New Year’s Day, there will be a new starter at quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs. After Carson Beck’s season-ending injury in the SEC Championship, UGA is now resting its College Football Playoff hopes on backup Gunner Stockton.

Aside from some mop-up minutes earlier in the season, Stockton’s only game action came in the second half of the SEC Championship after Beck got hurt. But in that time, he managed to convert on 12-of-16 pass attempts, while leading Georgia to an overtime win. And confidence in the new QB is not something that seems to be lacking in Athens.

“Gunner has the team behind him right now, and we believe in his ability to come in and get the job done and do what we need,” said defensive lineman Mykel Williams.

Defensive back Malaki Starks added, “I think it’s just the confidence that he has in himself. I think you see everybody having confidence in him when you see him step out and he’s running guys over. That’s just the confidence that he has in his game, and that’s another reason why it makes it so easy to follow.”

“Gunner is a confident player,” said inside linebacker Jalon Walker. “He’s confident in his skillset, and he’s always determined to make the best plays possible, not only for himself but for our team.”

For the first time in three and a half weeks, Georgia will take the field Wednesday night against Notre Dame, with the winner advancing to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Kick off from New Orleans is set for 8:45 p.m. ET.

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Compared to the general population, police and firefighters face heightened risks of depression, PTSD and suicide, and they are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty, according to a 2018 report commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation, which advocates for people with disabilities.

At least 33 first responders have taken their own lives in Georgia since 2018, according to First H.E.L.P., a charity that fights mental health stigma. Most were men who held jobs in law enforcement.

Ambitious plans

The Hale Foundation, a nonprofit that helps men recover from drug and alcohol addiction, met with stiff opposition from Augusta residents for years as it sought to transform a former convent into Valor Station. Neighbors said they worried about safety and their property values. Ultimately, the foundation failed to win approval from the Augusta-Richmond County Commission.

The foundation sued in state and federal district courts. After losing those legal battles, the foundation switched to a location closer to Hale House, its addiction recovery center for men in Olde Town Augusta.

In preparation for Valor Station’s opening, Hale Foundation CEO Cliff Richards and a few colleagues checked out the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, which treats military veterans diagnosed with PTSD. Some of Emory’s patients have also held civilian jobs as first responders.

“I found there are a lot of parallels between what they are doing and being successful at with the military and what we are trying to do here with first responders,” said Matthew Carpenter, a former New York City police officer who serves as Valor Station’s chief administrative officer.

Sheila Rauch, deputy director of the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, also sees overlap.

“There are a lot of similarities. Both first responders and military populations have high rates of exposure to trauma,” Rauch said.

Valor Station plans to offer some of the same forms of treatment the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department has found effective for military veterans with PTSD.

Among them are individual and group talk therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, in which patients are instructed to discuss their traumatic experiences while focusing on blinking lights and vibrations. Patients from across the United States with and without medical insurance will be welcomed at Valor Station, Banish said.

“We want to open at least two on the East Coast and two on the West Coast, and hopefully have one or two centrally located, so officers don’t have to travel as far to get treatment,” said Jim Banish, the founder and president of the New York Law Enforcement Assistance Program, a nonprofit that aims to prevent PTSD and suicide.

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