NEW ORLEANS — Riley Leonard's mom has sent him one text before every game since high school — "You suck!"

The Notre Dame quarterback, who has been receiving praise in every shape and form since he picked up a ball, needed a way to "keep his ego in check," and Heather Leonard has been more than happy to help him.

It started when he played high school basketball at Fairhope High School, the sport he thought he would play in college. He had multiple D1 basketball scholarship offers before he received his first football offer. COVID-19 in his junior year, however, brought a shift as he started focusing on quarterback work, he says on his website and has told national media outlets like ESPN's College GameDay.

After his coaches sent his film to Duke, then-Coach David Cutcliffe offered him a spot in the legendary program.

After one year with Cutcliffe, two with Mike Elko, a meteoric rise to the national spotlight that included a home win versus Clemson and GameDay's first visit to Durham in program history, Leonard transferred to Notre Dame for his senior year.

While he was at Duke, his mom had the mantra made into a blue rubber wristband. He traded it out for an Irish green version when he transferred to Notre Dame. It's one of three wristbands he never takes off.

It's a reminder of what his priorities are, to keep him humble, Heather Leonard told Gulf Coast Media before the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans Thursday, Jan. 2.

Humble as a high school senior who threw for 1,900 yards and 25 touchdowns while rushing for an additional 500, earning all-state honors and Class 7A Player of the Year, AL.com Coastal Player of the Year after leading the Pirates to a 27-2 record and two-time Basketball Player of the Year.

The Sugar Bowl was the closest game to home he has played in his college career, though even Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan traveled to Tallahassee for his game against Florida State University and to Atlanta for Georgia Tech, his mom said. Leonard said she knows about 100 people who made the two-and-a-half-hour drive to New Orleans.

"The city has shown up not just at the games, but he gets texts, I get texts just saying, 'you're going to do great,' just congratulating him and showing their support, good or bad," she said.

Fairhope Brewing held watch parties for both playoff games so far, filling tables and showing the game on their big screen as the Fairhope alum – who brought six receivers to his hometown to bond and train with former NFL star Philip Rivers when he transferred to Notre Dame last year, according to reporting from the Associated Press – completed 15 for 24 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. He added 14 carries for 80 yards and converted a critical third down in the fourth quarter to extend a late-game drive, earning offensive MVP honors for the game.

He said post-game he came to Notre Dame for "games like these."

He transferred to the school where his great-grandfather played in the '40s, the setting of his favorite movie, "Rudy."

Now, as he and No. 7 Notre Dame prepare to take on No. 6 Penn State Thursday, Jan. 9, in Miami, Florida, in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Capital One Orange Bowl, he knows he'll get at least one more reminder that "You suck!"