play
Marcus Freeman reacts after Notre Dame upset by Marshall (0:56)

Marcus spoke after Notre Dame fell to 0-2. It was :56

12:14 PM ET

Charles Huff knew his team wouldn't be overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of Notre Dame Stadium.

The players had been there before. Several from Power 5 programs joined Marshall's roster.

Three guys from Florida State play for Notre Dame, according to Huff. The team wasn't as focused on the gold helmets as it was, "Hey, this is an opportunity to play a good team, and we have to play really well." The intimidation factor in college football isn't as high as it used to be.

Marshall led most of the way in a 26-21 victory over the eighth ranked Fighting Irish. The win was the second against an AP top 10 opponent and the first against a ranked team since 2003 when they beat Kansas State. Marshall, a first-year member of the Sun Belt, helped highlight a huge day for the conference.

A running back who was dismissed from Florida State for violating team rules factored into Marshall's win. He ran for 163 yards and scored a touchdown. Henry Colombi, a transfer from Texas Tech, was the quarterback for the game.

When we hit the transfer portal, we got some guys that played a lot of snaps. We weren't just getting a guy that didn't play in the SEC. We were getting guys that were either starter or rotation who had lost their jobs.

If we just count the starters, we have a Power 5 roster.

Marshall had a drop-off from its starters to backups, which was a bigger concern for Huff. The win was one of the biggest in team history.

Huff said that a lot of the guys who have transferred here were at places where they didn't feel appreciated. The coaching staff, their playing time or the culture that was built were all factors. I don't think that was intentional, but they feel like they are part of a family here. There was a family celebration.

"Old players, new players, players who had been here for six years, players who had been here for six months, all kind of came here and threw their chips in the middle of the table and said, 'We're going to do this together.'