SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- In the December darkness, Notre Dame's football team exited the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and walked in unison across campus toward its stadium.

The traditional stadium walk took on a new feel for the first College Football Playoff game played on a campus -- the December chill combined with chill bumps. Amid the walk, coach Marcus Freeman recalls the lights from the "College GameDay" set piercing the night's sky, the scene unfolding in front of them.

The crowd swelled and the stadium lights popped in the distance. The moment still sends collective chills through the participants.

"It was wild," Freeman told ESPN in his office recently. "It was almost like being in a movie as you're walking to the stadium. I thought that was such a cool moment that I can just vividly remember."

Nearly four months after beating Indiana in that game and winning two more CFP games before ultimately falling short against Ohio State in the national title game, a new challenge awaits Freeman -- building Notre Dame's 2025 team to deliver a sequel. Freeman faces the vexing riddle of how to take that final step -- not just reaching the title game but winning it.

Freeman made clear that the beginning of 2025 comes with a duality: appreciating the accomplishments of 2024 but also closing the door on that star-kissed run.

"Your past experience can create an arrogance that makes you lose the humility you must have to prepare the way you need to," Freeman said. "And so we've almost put 2024 away."

What's next at Notre Dame? There's a quarterback battle, a wave of fresh faces and a new age vibe that Freeman has permeated through the program.

Long viewed as stodgy and defiantly traditional, Notre Dame's adaptation to the sport's new era includes an aura as one of the country's destination programs. As Freeman analyzes how to cross the final Rubicon between national finalist and national champion -- much trickier than 60 minutes of football -- the calculus starts with a continued talent upgrade. Freeman remains rooted in selling a more holistic vision of the college experience, which includes a premium education. As Freeman attempts to "close the gap with the top programs in terms of talent," there remains a unique pitch.

"There's a cool factor that's important with high school kids," he said. "Yeah, sure. But at the end of the day, I hope what we continue to sell as cool is the development that we're going to provide. As a football player, you come here, you have the development of a person and as a student, and we're going to make sure that you leave here being self-sufficient."

Notre Dame's on-field identity will remain up front. It again projects to have an elite run game, with junior tailback Jeremiyah Love, the program's defining star for 2025 after a dazzling season that featured 1,362 total yards and 19 touchdowns. His touchdown run powering through four tacklers to score against Penn State embodied the grittiness of Notre Dame's CFP run.

Love will have a new position coach in Ja'Juan Seider, who came to Notre Dame from Penn State after building the top running back room in the sport there in recent years. Seider met Freeman more than a decade ago recruiting in Seider's native Florida. Freeman remembers when everyone was trying to recruit Nicholas Singleton and Seider got him to State College. That was part of Freeman's motivation to hire Seider.

"I was focused on him, I just didn't know if we were going to be able to get him or not," Freeman said. He added: "To see what they've done in developing the running backs and how he's played multiple guys that are high-end, high production guys. That's what I was looking for."

Notre Dame will have an offensive line the caliber we've come to expect, with promising young tackle Charles Jagusah projected as an anchor and veterans like Aamil Wagner and Anthonie Knapp as key players to power the run game.

The quarterback will be the biggest question looming over spring practice and likely summer camp, as Freeman will choose from junior Steve Angeli, redshirt freshman CJ Carr and redshirt sophomore Kenny Minchey.

Freeman raved about Angeli and acknowledged that Notre Dame likely doesn't win its CFP game against Penn State without his cameo at the end of the first half when Riley Leonard was in the injury tent. "He's the definition of delayed gratification," Freeman said. "Here's a guy that has so many different opportunities to leave."

Carr is the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and Freeman says Carr's "natural leadership" has made an impression. The team noticed in practice when he was out for a stretch last year with an injured elbow. "You could feel the effects of him not even being on scout team," Freeman said.

Minchey will also compete for the job, and while he's not as much of a household name, there's optimism he can factor into the mix. "You talk about ceilings, his ceiling is as high as anybody," Freeman said.

Notre Dame's defense will look different, as coordinator Chris Ash comes in replace Al Golden, who departed for the Cincinnati Bengals. Notre Dame will lose a swath of talented and productive defensive linemen, led by tackles Howard Cross and Rylie Mills. Redshirt junior Donovan Hinish will anchor the 2025 line, and there's buzz in the program that Bryce Young -- son of Hall of Famer Bryant Young -- is one of the program's most talented young players.

In the secondary, sophomore Leonard Moore has emerged as one of the sport's bright young players. He filled in admirably for Benjamin Morrison, who was lost in October with a season-ending hip injury. Freeman and corners coach Mike Mickens, who both recruited Sauce Gardner to Cincinnati, said Moore kept making familiar-looking plays in practice last year.

"It just kept happening and happening," Freeman said. "I said, 'Does he remind you of a kid that we had a Cincinnati?' He said, 'Oh yeah.' It's just because of his length and he kept winning one-on-one battles."

Moore wasn't a decorated recruit, as Notre Dame found him on a tip from the parent of Braylon James, a former Notre Dame player who is now at TCU. One year in, Moore earned multiple freshman All-American honors and appears to be on a trajectory to be among the sport's elite defensive players the next two seasons.

"[Coach] Mick has always said, [Sauce] had a lot of work too, but he got better each and every year," Moore said. "He always, at the end of the day, competed on the field."

Freeman is energized by the hire of Ash, who he says will continue the momentum from Golden's top five scoring defense from 2024 and put some twists on it.

"How would you enhance this?" Freeman said he asked Ash in the hiring process. "How can you pick up where we're at and enhance this? I didn't want somebody to come in here and bring a brand new scheme."

The returning talent has meshed with the new hires, and there's a deliberate process to build back to that scene in the hours before Notre Dame's home CFP debut.

"Notre Dame has the ability to compete at the highest level year in, year out," Wagner said. "And that's because of the people we bring in. ... From the head coach to the cooks, we have everyone that's bought into team success."

And the group is energized by the experience but humbled by the journey back.

"We have a team that no moment will be too big for them," Freeman said. "It's important to have a confidence that, hey, we've played in big games, we've played in a national championship. We know what to expect."