Christmas is over and the Georgia Bulldogs are putting together their final preparations for their New Year’s date in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoffs at the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame.

For long-time Georgia fans, this game has extra meaning. Many will harken back to the 1980 National Championship, when the Herschel Walker-led Bulldogs upended the Irish, culminating with Vince Dooley being carried off the field on the shoulders of his players after proving themselves the best college football team in the land.

There will be just as much at stake when the two programs clash again in the Superdome with a spot in the CFP semifinals on the line.

The game, which kicks off at 8:45 ET on ESPN, will mark the Bulldogs’ first time on the field since their Dec. 7 win over Texas in the SEC Championship.

While the rest has been welcomed, one of the biggest chores for Kirby Smart and his assistants will be making sure his team does not lose any rhythm compared to the Irish who played on Dec. 20 when they rolled Indiana in the opening round of the playoffs.

“I wouldn't say it's uncommon for us. I do think it's a long time off. But I don't know that it's uncommon, right? It's really just hard to manage, hard to deal with in terms of that space and how you keep your players in shape, but in football shape and game shape,” Smart said. “That's the bigger dilemma, do you lose some rhythm? I mean, you watch it most times in bowl games, people who have those long breaks, it can affect how you play. And we're trying our best to manage that.”

The Bulldogs are familiar with Irish head coach Marcus Freeman.

Freeman was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati when the Bulldogs won the 2020 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, a game Georgia captured 24-21 on a 55-yard field goal with four seconds left by Jack Podlesny.

Smart knows the challenge that lies ahead.

After being upset by Northern Illinois in Week 2, the Irish (12-1) reeled off 10 straight wins to qualify for the playoffs.

In many ways, this year’s Notre Dame team reminds Smart of the squads he sees on a weekly basis in the SEC.

“You know, the physicality, I see when I watch Notre Dame play is pretty incredible. On both lines of scrimmage. The way they play, the style of play they have,” Smart said. “Comparing those teams is hard for me because there are so many years in between, but this is a really good, solid, fundamentally sound, don't beat themselves, play good defense, great defense, and really physical on the lines of scrimmage, and they got a really athletic quarterback. There's a reason why they're at the point in the season that they're at.”

For Georgia, it’s been a grind.

The Bulldogs’ strength of schedule was rated the country’s toughest, and the Bulldogs took their lumps, dropping road games to Alabama and Ole Miss.

Georgia’s schedule also took a physical toll.

The Bulldogs have been asked to overcome a plethora of key injuries, not the least of which has been the elbow injury to quarterback Carson Beck.

But he hasn’t been the only one.

It’s been a tough year to be an interior lineman, both on the offensive and defensive side.

Per Smart, there hasn’t been a single member of his offensive line that hasn’t been injured to some degree, even if their names did not show up on the weekly availability report.

“In terms of our offensive line, you say the progression, we've had a mixed starting lineup. I don't feel like it's been like this guy's been out, he's been out, he's been injured. I mean, we had more rotating changes in lineups than probably any year since I've been here,” Smart said. “But I'm very proud of the fight, the toughness, the grit in which they played with and pushing through the injuries that pretty much every one of them has had.”

That’s where Smart feels the extra time off will help.

His Bulldogs will need to be fresh against a Notre Dame team that’s balanced on both sides of the ball.

“They have unbelievable backs. First off, who you hand it to does matter. Those guys are tremendously talented. They do a great job. Use all of them too,” Smart said. “When you throw the skill set in there of the quarterback (Riley Leonard) it just makes it that much tougher to defend. Because they have multiple weapons, multiple options, and they're really physical. They're committed to it.… They're very committed to the run.”

Smart said his Bulldogs will need to be ready for a scrap.

“Watching Notre Dame all year and the game the other night, physicality, they're really physical up front. They play really hard. You see it on tape. You see them dominate the line of scrimmage. That's why they win football games,” Smart said. “That's where the game's won or lost. It kind of showed the other night almost what they've done all year.”