HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (WISH) — Notre Dame fans are travelling down south for the second straight week.

Over New Year’s they were in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl against Georgia in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Now, they’re in Miami for the Orange Bowl in the semifinals against Penn State.

WISH-TV sports reporter Andrew Chernoff is in South Florida for coverage of the Fighting Irish. There were a ton of Fighting Irish fans on his flight down to Miami and there’s a lot of green in South Florida now.

One fan that made the trip is a recent graduate who has seen Notre Dame play in a big game in Miami before.

“It’s awesome,” Michael Bender said. “I was actually here in 2013 for the national championship game and I’ve been a fan all my life. I just graduated in 2024 so it’s great to be here with my family back. Hopefully the result is better than last time, but I’m really looking forward to it.”

Notre Dame played Alabama in the BCS Championship game in 2013, losing 42-14.

Bender said he wishes he was still a student for this run, but he’s happy to be able to see it.

Other Notre Dame fans are enjoying the weather, and some are making it to their second game of the Fighting Irish’s playoff run.

“We were at the IU game,” Scott Young said. “Big win there. Missed the last one, but coming down here for this. Weather is great. Good time to get out of Indy with all the snow there, so this is perfect.”

“It’s awesome to be down here,” Jake Schrauth said. “The weather is great. We got good vibes coming into this week. It was a great game last week. I think we can get it done and get to the national championship, so super excited.”

Notre Dame and Penn State are scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

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