For any references to history No. 6 Notre Dame and its third-year head football coach, Marcus Vrijmanwas asked to get down to the almost impossible to make out numbers on the specially designed uniforms this week, they never lost sight of the most important historical thread.

The one they keep running themselves.

The 49-14 elimination of 19th-ranked CFP Army at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, in the 100th anniversary season since the Four Horsemen galloped to a much less comfortable 13-7 victory over Army at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan , solidified the most tantalizing possibilities for the 2024 Irish.

At least another week.

“This is a team that is hungry,” Freeman said after his 10-1 ND team ended the nation’s longest active win streak at thirteen games, while now tied for second place with Boise State with nine straight wins, behind only No. 1 Oregon. 12 in a row.

“There’s a lot more,” Freeman continued. ‘We have more. We didn’t play perfectly and strive for perfection. Do we ever play perfectly? No. But that’s what we’re going to strive for. That is what we strive for as an entire football program.”

The Irish may not necessarily be chasing context, but those who follow them are and certainly the ones who will put them in the first College Football Playoff round on December 8 – with a win this Saturday over USC (6-5), that is – are too.

And Army’s win in the 52nd all-time meeting cries out for context, as this was the highest-ranked (AP 18th) Army team since 1962, before anyone on Freeman’s coaching staff was even born. And considering the Black Knights (9-1) had won every game by double digits this season and trailed by just 5 minutes, 48 ​​seconds this season.

They trailed for all but the first 4:36 on Saturday night, in front of a capacity crowd of 47,432.

And had the No. 1 rushing attack in the FBS entering the game, and was outgained 273-207 overall and 9.4 yards per carry to 3.6.

And were No. 1 in passing efficiency (187.91), but posted a 59.38 rating against the nation’s No. 1 passing efficiency rating. And he racked up 26 passing yards playing from behind, the fewest any ND team has produced in nine seasons.

And Army, the nation’s No. 1 team with the fewest sacks given up and fewest turnovers, coughed up one of each. And had four three-and-outs on offense in the first half alone after totaling 10 in the first nine games.

And surrendering five rushing TDs on defense Saturday night in ND’s 12th Shamrock Series win in the 12 played since the offsite home game concept began largely annually in 2009. Army had surrendered just three rushing TDs all season.

So what does this all mean, in the big picture, for Freeman on a weekend where scoreboard shocks were popular among apparent CFP locks and some near misses made it almost downright chaotic?

“I have always said that it is up to you and everyone else to interpret the message that is being sent,” Freeman said. “There is one goal on Saturday and that is to achieve team glory. The way you prepare gives you the best chance to do that.

“That’s the message our players need to understand: we’re preparing the right way, we’re going to continue to find ways to elevate and improve and you will, hopefully, get a result that we got tonight.

“I’m not as concerned about the message it sends to everyone else as I am about the message it sends to our players and this program.”

Pragmatically, there is little schematic about playing Army on Saturday night that will translate into what the Irish will see from their archrivals next weekend at the LA Memorial Coliseum (3:30 p.m. EST on CBS).

But what will likely travel for the Irish is their ability to focus on a singular task and take care of business. Aggressive, even violent, using Freeman’s word.

With this group you don’t have to tiptoe to the finish.

And it’s showing up in a lot of places, with the possible exception of starting spot kicker Mitch Jeter making more tackles (1) than field goal attempts (0-for-2 with one blocked) on Saturday night.

Like QB Riley Leonards career-best passing efficiency rating (223.3) and Jeremiyah Love he scored a TD or more (he had three Saturday) for the 11th straight game, tying Wayne Bullock’s 50-year-old school record. And career-high tackle totals among sophomores Adon Shuler (8) and Jaiden Ausberry (7). And a blocked kick from freshman Bryce Young, to go with his two blocked field goals earlier this season.

And it defines Marcus Freeman, just as every third season at Notre Dame seems to have done so accurately over the decades. Not just who those coaches are right now, but who and what they will become.

“We’ve improved, but we’re starting to get more consistent,” Freeman said, reflecting on the 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois on Sept. 7 that preceded the return to national title discussion relevance.

“That’s the sign of great teams, great companies, great people: consistency. Not the ability to do it really high one day and be really low the next. But the consistency over a game, over a season.

“That is what we have seen in recent weeks. We had to improve. We had a lot to improve on that Northern Illinois performance, and we did it. But now you see a consistent football team. We must remain that way.”

Next Saturday night is a chance to take another step in history — in the kind of history Notre Dame now wants to make, and not just to think about.

The best kind of history.

NOTRE DAME 49, ARMY 14: Box score