(Photo credit: Michael Clubb/South Bend Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Preparation is paramount for Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who understands the importance of the first game of the season and has plenty of first-hand knowledge of this week's opponent, Wisconsin.

Notre Dame spent the offseason fuming about being left out of the College Football Playoff and packs plenty of motivation for the Sunday night visit to Lambeau Field, where the No. 4 Fighting Irish open the season as the home team against Wisconsin and Freeman's one-time boss, Luke Fickell.

The opener has been underlined by Freeman. The Irish dropped their first two games in 2025, but were bypassed by the playoff selection committee despite a run of 10 consecutive wins. The spot instead went to Miami, which had defeated Notre Dame in the season opener.

'We didn't earn that opportunity,' Freeman said. 'We didn't earn the right to play more than 12 games last year. That's something that we've owned and we know we have aspirations to play beyond the regular season.'

Somewhere near the other end of the spectrum sits Fickell. He also resides on the hot seat after back-to-back losing seasons of 5-7 and 4-8. The rebuilt Badgers added 33 players in the transfer portal and 25 exited.

The Irish offense revolves around highly touted junior quarterback CJ Carr. He completed 66.6% of his passes for 2,741 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions in 12 starts in 2025. Senior Jordan Faison had 49 receptions last season for 640 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Jaden Greathouse, limited to four games last season with a hamstring injury, had 42 catches for 592 yards and four scores in 2024.

Notre Dame is hitting reset at running back. A pair of first-round draft picks -- Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price -- are not easily replaced. But Aneyas Williams moves into the primary spot with a reputation for providing big plays. He has averaged 7.6 yards in 58 career attempts with seven touchdowns.

The Irish are loaded on defense in all phases with tremendous depth in the line, linebacker and secondary.

Safety Brauntae Johnson, cornerback Leonard Moore and linebackers Drayk Bowen and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa received preseason All-American recognition, talent the Wisconsin offense has become well aware of in preparation for the opener.

'This week is going to be a lot of determining factors,' Fickell said Monday. 'I think this is where we have to be smart in all the things that we're doing. We know this is a huge game in game one, the way we're kicking off in Lambeau against Notre Dame.'

Colton Joseph, a dual-threat junior transfer from Old Dominion, takes over at quarterback for the Badgers, who averaged just 12.8 points and 253.1 yards per game last season.

Joseph completed 59.8% of his passes for 4,251-yards for 32 touchdowns with 15 interceptions over two seasons as the starter. Joseph, the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year in 2025, also rushed for 1,654 yards and 24 touchdowns in two seasons, including 1,007 yards last season.

Abu Sama III, who rushed for 1,933 yards and 13 touchdowns in 38 games in three seasons at Iowa State, is expected to be the primary running back. Darrien Dupree, who ran for a team-high 363 yards in 10 games, also returns.

Wisconsin, whose punishing ground game that featured the likes of Ron Dayne and Jonathan Taylor earned it the moniker Running Back U., averaged just 116.7 yards per game last season and 3.3 yards per carry.

The Badgers allowed 21.6 points per game last season, limiting opponents to just 105.2 yards per contest on the ground, but allowing 218.3 through the air with 19 touchdowns.

Wisconsin was last in the country last season with just six takeaways.

Fickell, hired after going 57-18 in six seasons at Cincinnati, including a playoff berth in the old four-team format, is 17-21 in three seasons at Wisconsin. Freeman was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati under Fickell.

'I was fortunate to work on Luke Fickell's staff for four years at Cincinnati,' Freeman said Monday. 'What I know about him and what you see on film is that his teams are going to be tough, and they're going to play physical, they're going to be aggressive, they're going to be disciplined, and they're going to play until all 60 minutes. And so, we have to be prepared for a battle.'

--Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media