In an effort to show solidarity with a movement sweeping the nations, dozens of Notre Dame students knelt on benches during the national anthem prior to Saturday's win over Florida State, multiple outlets report.

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's outcry during the 2016 season against nationwide racial injustice jump-started a movement in sports and part of Saturday's student reaction. The student were also sending a signal to those involved with a recent incident of police brutality in Elkhart, Indiana after two officers were shown on video punching a handcuffed man in the face.

Those two officers now face criminal charges.

“It’s a political issue and a faith issue,” Notre Dame student Durrell Jackson told Yahoo Sports. “I’m a black Christian. I love life. I love my brother. I follow what Jesus had done and what he died for. Last time I checked, he died for others. (Racial inequality) is a problem that hit my faith and my politics. I have to go out there. I have to do this.”

Several students watched Jackson sit at a game earlier this season and the group banded together to make a statement before this season's final home game.

“We went in there, we all sat together as a group,” Jackson said. “We knew something big was happening, but we still did normal Notre Dame game stuff. We still were hype to see the players come out. We knew we were going to do something we felt in our heart was important. We all kneeled. We stood back up and we all looked at each other.”

Notre Dame student Shawn Wu told Yahoo Sports this group's approach is to protect using peaceful measures through faith-based reasoning.

“Our goal for this protest was to reframe it,” Wu said. “It’s not just a liberal act because we’re snowflakes or whatever, but it’s because of a deep reverence for the flag and also Notre Dame’s tradition of standing up for what is right. This isn’t to limit it to Catholics, but part of it is our faith. I think people forget how much Catholic theology calls for us to stand with the marginalized to face injustice.”

Kaepernick's bold stand against racial injustice led to widespread disdain amongst team owners, so much so that he hasn't played in the NFL since. Kaepernick has since spoken publicly about the horrors of racial injustice and recently signed a multi-year partnership with Nike to lead a new marketing campaign.

"To me, this is something that has to change," Kaepernick said in an August 2016 interview, per CNN. "And when there's significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it's supposed to represent and this country is representing people the way that it's supposed to, I'll stand."