Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame faces massive health issue before Orange Bowl, report suggests

The College Football Playoff has been thrilling, with some top teams being eliminated, but one of the four remaining teams could have a massive disadvantage. It appears that a sickness is floating around the Notre Dame locker room.

On3's Tyler Horka reported that several Notre Dame Fighting Irish players are dealing with the flu ahead of their CFP semifinal game against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night.

"(I) been told the flu is going around the Notre Dame locker room. Those who have it have it bad, but it sounds like that's mostly backups and special teams players. Still something to monitor for the Fighting Irish going into the Orange Bowl vs. Penn State tonight," Horka tweeted.

The betting line has not moved much since the illness was reported, but with less than an hour remaining before kickoff, the Nittany Lions have become slightly favored after the game was a pick-em all day Thursday. It will be interesting to see how the game plays out but no players have been ruled out due to the illness.

What does Notre Dame need to do to win vs. Penn State?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a good chance of making the national championship game. Last week in the CFP quarterfinals against the Georgia Bulldogs, they were able to advance due to special teams and defense. However, they need quarterback Riley Leonard and the offense to take a step in the right direction and show more life here.

Especially with the illness going through special teams, that can have an impact.

Penn State is built on its defense, but if Notre Dame is able to dominate the time of possession and keep quarterback Drew Allar off the field, the Fighting Irish will be in the driver's seat.

Notre Dame has faced a difficult schedule but with the warm weather as this game is being played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, they should see more production through the air and the offense may have a strong game after two straight CFP games of scoring less than 30 points.