When Danny Etling left Purdue to come to LSU, the quarterback left behind his home state of Indiana to head to the SEC.

Now, though, he’ll have a chance to take on another Indiana program — Notre Dame — in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day.

As you can see in the video below, posted by reporter Mike Gegenheimer on Twitter, Etling was thrilled to hear the Tigers were going to play a team that he grew up idolizing:

“I was excited,” he said. “Catholic kid, growing up in Indiana, obviously Notre Dame was a pretty significant part of my life. My grandfather went to Notre Dame, my uncle went to Notre Dame, my mom went to the school across from Notre Dame — St. Mary’s — and my uncle went to Holy Cross, which is across the street from there as well.

“So it was a pretty big part of my life growing up. I got to watch a lot of games. It’s when I kinda started watching college football — Brady Quinn, that era with Charlie Weis. It was pretty cool, a pretty good experience.”

Don’t expect Etling to take it easy on his childhood squad, as it will be his last game in an LSU uniform. He’ll be hungry to win, and he’ll do everything he can to end his career on a high note.