Marcus Freeman spent his first two seasons as the Notre Dame coach chasing the playoff dream.

This year, he’s living it — at home.

After closing the regular season on a 10-game winning streak and getting two weeks to prepare for the most meaningful postseason game of his career, Freeman is finally ready to lead the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish against 10th-seeded Indiana tonight.

“We’ve been in the playoffs since Week 3,” Freeman said, alluding to their postseason hopes following the stunning loss to Northern Illinois. “Every game we play is a version of a playoff game in our minds. We have to continue to understand that you don’t have any more added pressure than you’ve had the previous 10.”

Except the Irish (11-1) know this one is different.

Notre Dame hasn’t made a national championship run since 1988, its longest title drought since winning the school’s first in 1924. And unlike previous playoffs, the Irish will be playing the first game on campus in College Football Playoff history.

Just how unusual will this environment be?

It’s the first time Notre Dame has hosted a postseason game, the first time Notre Dame Stadium has hosted a Friday night game and the first time since 1990 that a Notre Dame home game has not been telecast by NBC.

Still, the Irish are doing what they can to make this seem like just another football week.

“The hardest thing throughout this whole process has probably been finals here at Notre Dame because that’s no joke,” quarterback Riley Leonard said. “Otherwise, it’s like a couple of bye weeks for us. We handle it the same way. Practice has been the same, the same recipe for success.”

But the stakes are significantly higher in this matchup between the two Indiana schools that have met just once since 1959. Notre Dame won 49-27 in 1991.

No. 9 Indiana (11-1) is the most improbable playoff entrant.

Associated Press Coach of the Year Curt Cignetti engineered an eight-game turnaround in his first season with the Hoosiers, setting a new single-season school record for victories while falling just a tiebreaker short of playing for its first Big Ten title since 1967.

The Hoosiers are scoring 43.3 points, the most of any playoff team, and have one of the FBS’ stingiest defenses, too. And even though Indiana failed its only test against a ranked foe, the Hoosiers believe that loss will help them do what most still believe impossible — reaching the Sugar Bowl for a quarterfinal game against No. 2 seed Georgia.

“It was a tough loss, but I think it was really important for us to have a game like that, to be tested and know what it takes to win these games,” quarterback Kurtis Rourke said, referring to the 38-15 loss at then-No. 2 Ohio State last month. “This is a win or go home kind of setup, so we’re going to have to make sure that we come with our best effort.”

They also may have one key advantage — postseason experience.

Cignetti and many of his assistant coaches were together for FCS and Division II playoff teams, and Cignetti also has that national championship ring from his days as Alabama coach Nick Saban’s recruiting coordinator.

“Well, I am kind of used to this routine,” Cignetti said. “But I don’t think it’s a major change for any of the coaches, to be quite honest with you, that are in the playoff.”