Report: Notre Dame CFB Players Dealing with Flu Ahead of Orange Bowl vs. PSU

Notre Dame is reportedly facing a new enemy as it prepares for Thursday night's College Football Playoff semifinal game against Penn State in the Capital One Orange Bowl.

Per Tyler Horka of On3.com, the Notre Dame locker room is dealing with a flu outbreak ahead of Thursday night's game.

"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," Horka wrote on social media. "Still something to monitor for the Fighting Irish going into the Orange Bowl vs. Penn State tonight."

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN later provided an update, saying that "the situation has improved from several days ago."

It would be a massive disappointment if the flu outbreak affected Notre Dame against Penn State. The Fighting Irish overcame tough tests from Indiana and Georgia on their way to reaching the CFP semifinals. The win against the Bulldogs was particularly impressive, as Georgia was ranked No. 2 in the CFP bracket.

Notre Dame went 11-1 during the regular season to earn the No. 7 spot in the CFP. The team's lone loss came in a 16-14 upset against Northern Illinois in the second week of the season.

The Fighting Irish will need their defense to continue performing at a high level in the CFP to reach their first national championship game since 2013. Notre Dame held both Indiana and Georgia to under 20 points in its first two playoff games, but it will be facing a Penn State squad that topped the 30-point mark in its two playoff outings against SMU and Boise State.

Fans are certainly hoping that the Fighting Irish will be at full strength against the Nittany Lions so they can see an exciting game between two talented teams in the Orange Bowl.