NIU coach Thomas Hammock emotional after Notre Dame upset: 'I just couldn't be more proud'

Every now and again, reminds fans that anything can happen in a game. That was proven again Saturday inside Notre Dame Stadium when knocked off 16-14 on Saturday in one of the biggest upsets of the . That also resulted in an emotional postgame interview from Huskies coach as he joined NBC's Zora Stephenson in postgame.

A former NIU football player himself, Hammock was brought to tears as he talked about the impact of his team's victory. "All these guys have been with our program, lived through the ups and downs and have continued to fight. It's like they're my kids.



..I just couldn't be more proud.

" An emotional NIU coach Thomas Hammock moments after the Huskies beat Notre Dame. — Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) "I'm so proud of our kids (and) the coaches. They believed.

They believed and we came here and got it done," Hammock said as he came to tears. The Huskies sealed the win on both sides of special teams, as NIU hit a go-ahead field goal with 31 seconds remaining. They then blocked a 62-yard field goal from Notre Dame at the end of regulation to get the win.

Northern Illinois BLOCKS THE FIELD GOAL as time expires to seal a historic upset at Notre Dame Stadium! 👏 — NBC Sports (@NBCSports) The win also touched close to home for Hammock, as the fifth-year Huskies coach played at NIU from 1999 through 2002. Hammock ran for 2,432 career rushing yards and finished with 12 career 100-yard rushing games. He finished with two 1,000-yard campaigns with the Huskies.

"All these guys that been program through the ups and downs and continue to fight. They're my kids. I'm happy for the adversity to push through matter the situation.

I just could not be more proud," said Hammock when asked where his emotion during the interview was coming from..