_ THE OBSERVER I FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13,20151 NDSMCOB EHVER. OMNDSMCOB ERVER.COM' FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13,20151 THE OBSERVER _

COMMENTARY

Senior class has opportunity to bookend storyphant affairs. Playing in

26-degree cold and snow in2013, the Irish came away withthe win against BYU,but aftera title game run in 2012, it was aletdown. 102014, Notre Dame'ssecond-half collapse contin-ued with a humiliating loss toLouisville.Both times, the season was,

for all intents and purposes, overbefore the game even began. Norso this year.All this is despite the staggering

number of injuries that hit theIrish early this season. Indeed,the team's ability to bounce backstrong from those obstacles canbe attributed to the leadershipthese seniors have provided.The experiences of this 2016

class inform the overall characterof this team. They've been all theway to the brink of a title, they'veexperienced the frustrations ofmediocrity, they know what it'slike to have defeat snatched fromthe jaws ofvictory, and they'vefelt the embarrassment of com-pletely falling apan at the end ofa long season. In short, they'vedone it all.From that perspective, it's not

at all surprising Day and Stanleydecided to return to Notre Damefor their senior seasons despitethe prospects of NFL Draftmoney. They .... tasted successand then bad it taken away. TheywantmOTe.That hunger has trickled down

to the younger classes, and thusfar this season, it has paid off.After crumbling last season fol-lowing the loss to Florida State,the Irish have stayed strongafter a similarly stunning loss toClemson.Like 2012, Wake Forest is just

another step towards a fitting endfor this senior class. Like 2012, theIrish are no longer playing just forpride on Senior Day.

Greg HadleyF.dilor·in·Ch,e(

For otre Dame's senior class,these final few weeks of the sea-son represent a chance to finishwhere it started and maybe evengo beyond.As freshmen in 2012, Sheldon

Day, Chris Brown, KeiVaraeRussell, Ronnie Stanley andthe rest were, for the most part,along the ride as the Irish wenton a historic run to the BCSChampionship Game.As seniors in 2015, they are in

position to lead a return to col-lege football's biggest stage.In between, just a few things

have changed.Everett Golson left, came

back, then left again. Offensivecoordinator Chuck Martin anddefensive coordinator Bob Diacohave gone on to head coachinggigs elsewhere. Five players weresuspended after an academic in-vestigation in 2014, then anotherleft before this season. FieldThrfreplaced natural grass at NotreDame Stadium. Heck, NotreDarneeven switched fromAdidasto Under Armour,Yethere they are, in practically

the same position they were inthree years ago.Even the Senior Day opponent

- Wal<e~ -15 the same.As freshmen, plenty ofmem-

bers of the class of2016 saw thefield as the Irish romped to a 38-0win, As seniors, they will likelyleave equally dominant.Yes, yes, Notre Dame cannot

afford to overlook the DemonDeacons. As feeble as its offensemay be, Wake Forest could stillsurprise the Irish if they are un-prepared. Their pass defense issolid as well.But the Irish are 27-point favor-

ites for a reason. They will, in alllikelihood, roll to an easy win.As with 2012, it's what comes

after Wake Forest that really mat-ters. And it's the first time sincethen that's been the case.The 2013 and 2014 Senior Day

games were not particularly

riches for another year, it didn'tmean Stanley hasn't had NFL aspi-rations all his life. On a recent epi-sode ofShowtime's ''A Season WithNotre Dame," Stanley's mother,Iuli, said that when Ronnie was12-years old he told her to hoid onto his football card "because it's go-ing to be worth money one day."After a standout high school

career that saw Stanley's BishopGorman team win three straightNevada Class 4A titles, he saw lim-ited action his freshman seasonfor the Irish. In 2013, the 6-foot-5,315-pound lineman started all 13games at right tackle before shift-ing over and anchoring the line atleft tackle the last two seasons.Stanley has come into his own

as a leader for me Irish in 2015, butnot in the way he may have envi-sioned it before the season. WhenShowtime released a trailer for theprogram's debut episode, a clipwas leaked that showed Irish headcoach Brian Kelly explaining tothe team mat Stanley would notbe able to accept his captainship.Stanley later met with reportersand explained mat itwas for "park-ing reasons.""I'm looked at as a leader by

By BRIAN PLAMONDONSPOrts Writer

teammates and coaches, so Idon'tneeda'C'onmychesttoknowwhatrole I have on this team," Stanleysaid Sept. 16. "I never needed thatgrowing up, and Idon't need it now.Idefinitely still accept the positionI'm in, and I'm fully ready to dowhat I have to do for my team."For Stanley, this season isn't too

much of a departure in terms ofhow vocal he is with teammates-the added wri nlde is that a lot of theoffensive line and even the offenseas a whole looks up to him."I've always been comfortable

kind of telling people how 1 feel;'Stanley said. "And even te\ling, peo-ple what they should do II they'renor doing things right. The onlydifferent thing is just' the way otherpeople are just accepting me lead-ership I'm trying to give them."Stanley isn't me only one notic-

ing a difference in the way peopletake to his leadership. Kellysingledout Stanley and senior defensivelineman Sheldon Day for their sig-nificance in Notre Dame's successso far this season."When your best players are

your best leaders, it changes the dy-namics of everything that you dobecause they're out mere in prac-tice, setting a standard," Kelly said."They're in me locker room settinga standard, and then they're onthe field in the way they competesetting a standard. So I don't wantto attribute aU of it to them, butwe wouldn't be where we are rightnow without those two guys backin 2015."Day had me same decision to

make as Stanley back in Januaryabout whether or not to come backfor his senior season. After Day de-cided to return, Stanley joined himafter watching Ohio State win thenational championship and real-izing he couldn't leave his collegedays behind without one himself.'We were driving home, and

IStanley] said it will be crazy be-cause we wouldn't be able to experi-ence something like this," Day saidof the thought that they both wouldhave turned pro. ''And just the guysin the locker room and how muchfun we're having this season, andjust being around the guys, it's cra-zy that ifwe would have went meother way how things would havebeen much different."Much of Stanley's decision re-

volved around me fact that the

Just like every other senior, Irishleft tackle Ronnie Stanley will runout of the tunnel Saturday andgreet his family at the beginning ofNotre Dame's annual Senior Daygame. Nothing will be unordinaryabout the sequence for Stanley- except for the fact mat therewas a chance it was never going tohappen.After a standout 2014 season,

Stanley was seen by draft expertsas a first-round lock, potentially thetop offensive linentan taken in the2015 NFL Draft. Instead, Stanleydecided to come back to NotreDame, saying that his decision wasbased on one thing and one thingonly: a national championship."lust knowing how good me

team was going to be, and howmany players were returning [washuge]," Stanley said. "That was re-ally something that influenced mydecision, and knowing our teamwould be really good this year. Andme being able to be a leader on meteam was really important to me aswell."Despite his choice to shun NFL

EMMET FARNAN I rna Observer

Irish graduate student receiver Amir Carlisle looks to run after making a catch during Notre Dame's 42-30victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday. Carlisle spent his freshman year at USC before joining the Irish.

PAID ADVEHTlSEMENT

Fall 2015

ZACH lLDAENS , The Observer

Irish senior offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley scans the defense inNotre Dame's 24-20 win over Temple on Oct. 31 in Philadelphia.

"Thank God for the saints whose feast dayscome around and remind us that we too arecalled to be saints."

VMI'lIIIUH"'Il" O~ /(c'"'u O-"~I.

INSTITUTE FOil CHURCH LIfEwith each other from freshmenand seeing some of the guys turninto the great players and guys theyare now."Although Stanley technically has

one more year of eligibility remain-ing due to a redshirt year in 2012, itwould be a shock if the mammothleft tackle decided [0 return for the2016 season. Still, the Las Vegasproduct has so far been contentwith his decision, glad to enjoy an-other season with the teammatesbe has spent me last four seasons inthe trenches with."lrs been a long journey," Stanley

said. "But I'm happy with me deci-sion I made. I'd make the same de-cision again, no regrets."With just three regular sea-

son games remaining, Saturdayis the first step towards fulfillingStanley's dream of making it backto me championship game, andthis time, coming home victorious.Stanley's other dream will have towait just a little while longer."It's definitely crossed my mind

what itwould have been like lin theNFLI," Stanley said. "But it neverreally took me away from beingfocused on the task at hand here,what we're trying to accomplish."

Notre Dame team had unfinishedbusiness in me national champi-onship game. Despite me highsof its appearance there his fresh-man year and me lows of a 1-4November in a promising seasonlast year, Stanley said me one con-stant was that this team had thetype of players necessary to com-pete at the highest level."We understood what we had

in front of us and understood metalent we had," Stanley said of thesenior class's expectations of thisseason. "Being in me nationalchampionship, we knew we hadthe talent to be in the game thisyear. That was the main thing-the experiencing going and seeingme talent that was there."For the Irish, Stanley and me rest

of the senior class represent melast group mat will have been onme sideline for Notre Dame's BCSChampionship Game appearance,outside of a few potential fifth yearsnext year. Although his decision to

come back rested on the potentialfor the Irish to make it to Glendale,Arizona, Stanley has made a pointto enjoy every aspect of his senioryear."It's really just trying [0 cherish

the last few weeks I have left withthese guys," Stanley said. "Reallyreflect on me relationships we built

- Dorothy Day

SAINTS WHO SPOKE UP AND SPOKE OUT1

Contact Greg Hadley atghadley@nd.eduThe views expressed in this

Sports Authority are those of theauthor and not necessarily thoseof The Observer.

it PAlD ADVERTISEMENT

W[lCOM[ BACK!MlN') HAIRCU1)m &: ur*

•-,81 sSt. Ignatius of Loyola, Reformer: Speaking up for catholic Tradition

Fr. Brian E, Daley. SJ., Hulsklng Professor of Theology, Notre Dame

November 1410:30-11:30 am

Andrews AUditorium~ Lower Level, Geddes Hall

[lOI[ 10 [AMruI

BOOK ONllN[

1WO lOCA1!ONI)OU1H BlND • MIIHAWAKA1)H1H~~\. 11\-m-1~~~WWWIAlONROUGHNC.COM

'\1'1, Off WIIIiID MON-WmNOO1l1il OI\(OUN11.

EMMET FARNAN I The Observer

Irish senior defensive lineman Sheldon Day attempts to beat aPittsburgh offensive lineman during Notre Dame's win Saturday,

Contact Brian Plamondon atbplamond@nd.edu

_ THE OBSERVERIFRIDAY, NOVEMBER IS, 20151 NDSMCOBSERVER.COM DSMCOBSERVER.COM IFRIDAV, OVEMBIlR IS, 20151 THr OB ERVER

NICKYBARATI11 S I TOMBALL, TEXASTRAViSAUEN IDB I LAN lNG, MICHIGAN

Versatile Barrati 'grateful' for time on campusAllen trades green and white for blue and goldother Division Ischools but said hedid not really consider going any-whereelse.From Tomball, Texas, Baratti

attended Klein Oak High School,where he pJayed up to five differ-ent positions in a game - quar-terback, running back, receiver,tight end and safety. He is the sonof Clarke and Jill Bararti. Baratuis enrolled in the MendozaCollege of Business, majoring in

a part of his life that has had ahuge impact on him."Playing on this team has

been amazing. I still rememberthe first time I ran out of thetunnel," Allen said. " We hadIhe Michigan game under thelights, first game of the year. It'sa dream, and il was great. Beingon the field with guys you willhave friendships with for Iherest of your life is amazing be-cause of all of the camaraderieon and off the field, and Ican'tbelieve how fortunate I am 10have this experience."Now, in his final season with

the Irish, Allen said he is mak-ing sure he enjoys every lastbit of time he has with theprogram."It's been everything I could

hope for and just knowing it'sthe last time going out thereand doing this stuff makes younot take anything for granted,"Allen said. "It's tough not to getcaught up in any moment. Iknow that last home game willbe speciaJ and I'll just try totake it all in."The season's not over yet

though, and I hope to makeeven more memories with thetime I have left on the team."Allen said his Notre Dame ex-

perience has been much more

management consulting.Baratti reflected on the difficul-

ty of adjusting to college life whilealso balancing academics andplaying a sport."I was prepared physically, but

not mentally," he said.Baratti explained "school was

hard," and at first, he struggledwith the transitions between foot-ball camp, season and off-season.He added that after his first injury,it was a tough shift from playing asport and going to school, to sim-ply watching a sport and going 10school.However, he clarified that now

he has adjusted to balancing thetwo a nd is "really good at it."Barat ti experienced shoulder in-

juries that kept him off the field forhis entire sophomore season andmost of his junioryear."It made me see the bigger pic-

ture," hesaid. "You come in think-ingthatyou're going to play all fouryears. Once you continue to gelknocked down, it gives you a big-ger perspective on life. Life is morethan just a game."Baratti became the first Irish

freshman in four seasons to recordan interception when he pickedoff former Michigan quarterbackDenard Robinson in 2012.

"I really enjoyed that momenthere against Michigan. OUI riva\. \t

was a cool feeling." he said.However, Baratti said he didn't

want one play to define his time atNotre Dame.

"I did great my freshman yearand I played a lot, but Idon't wantthat to slate who Iwas here as aplayer," Baratti said. "I have beenIrying to make big plays as I getolder."When he did get on the field his

junior year, Baratli made an im-pact, recovering a fumble in lastyear's season-opening win overRice.But Baratti said his favorite

memory wasn't either of thoseplays - rather, it was one focusedon a team accompJishment."When we beat Southern Cal at

Southern Cal my freshman year,"he said. "That was our ticket intothe [BCS]National Championship.The atmosphere was so cool, wewere just so happy, we were sohyped that we finally did it."

Baratti said he has multipleclose friends on the team, particu-larlya few players outside his Ownclass."I'm pretty close with [junior

linebacker] lames Onwualu," hesaid. "He came in early, and wehung out together. I helped himwhen he first got here, and we justconnected."Bararrr said he dedded to

said he attended every Spartansporting event he could whenhe was younger."Growing up, I was one of the

bigge t MSU fans," Allen said."My mom went there, and Itried my best to go to all of thefootball and basketball games.A close friend of mine was awalk-on there, so we had a littlecompetition that first year, bUIthankfully r came out on top.It's always fun going back there,and even now I still can't bringmyself to root against them."After four years at Notre

Dame, however, Allen said hehas received much more fromthe University than he couldhave ever expected. A mar-keting major in the MendozaCollege of Business, Allen saidhe is not sure what his futureholds just yet.

"I've been surprised by allthat you learn and the con-nections you make throughNO," Allen said. "I'm hoping todo marketing or managementin the sports field but I'm notset on that. Notre Dame reallyheJps you to figure out what itis you want to do after college."In addition to his education,

Allen said he realizes he is partof a select group that has suitedup for the Irish football team,

enroll in the Mendoza College ofBu iness because when he com-mitted, he knew 'otre Darne hadthe top-ranked business school inthe nation, and he felt like he hadto lake advantage of the program."Both of my parents have been

in business their whole lives, andthere's so much you can do with abusiness degree," Baratti said.

However, Baratti said his futurepost-graduation isn't as definite.

"Oh man,l don't know. Probablyfind a job," he said.However, there's another option

on the table, as he is eligible to playa fifth year."Deciding whether I will be

playing a fifth year or not wouldbe the first thing to do," he said."Time will tell toward the end ofthe season."

Bararti said he's thankful of thechance he had to compete at NotreDame."I'm grateful that I got the op-

portunity to come here," Barattisaid. "Although it hasn't been whatI dreamed of playing-wise, it hasbeen a great experience. It hasmade me grow up so much andbecome a man."I could not be more grateful for

that, or for this University."

ByALEXANDER BE DERSpcns wmer

Senior safety Nicky Baratti firstvisited Notre Dame with his dadduring his junior year of highschool and "fell in Jove with it."He visited again that same yearfor the spring game, and that'swhen he decided to make his ver-ba] commitment to Notre Dame.He bad scholarship offers from 12

For senior defensive backTravis Allen, coming to otreDame was not a lifelong dream.In fact, the chool didn't comeup on his radar until the endof high school, bUI once he re-ceived that acceptance letter, itwas clear to him what he had todo."I'm from Lansing, Michigan,

right near Michigan State. Ididn't really think about NOuntil late in my senior year, butonce 1 got in, I couldn't pass upthe academics, and it's the bestdecision I ever made," Allensaid.Allen, a three-sport athlete in

high school, passed up severalDivision IIoffers when he choseNotre Dame."During high school, I played

football, basketball and rantrack all four years. To be hon-est, basketball was my favoritesport, but I knew my best chanceto play in college was going tobe in football," Allen said. "Wehad some good competition inLansing, so it was great for megrowing up there and getting toface that competition."Living JUSt miles from the

Michigan State campus, AlJen

CAITLYN JORDAN IThe Observer

Irish senior defensive back 1TavisAllen, left, takes on a block duringthe Blue-Gold Game onApril 18 at LaBar Practice Complex,

than just the football team,though."I feeJ like I am a well-round-

ed person now because of NO,"Allen said. "In both academ-ics and athletics, being aroundgreat people 24/7 makes youa better person. It's just aboutgrowing and being the best

person you can be in all walksof life."You never know what you

might come across any givenday, and that's what sticks withme."

ZACH LLORENS I The Observer

Irish senior safety Nicky Baratti; middle, without helmet; trots off thefield at halftime during Notre Danw's 24-20 win over Temple on Oct. 31.

Contact Brenna Mox.\e'Yatbmox\e'YO\@&a\n\tnarys~du

Contact Alexander Bender atabender@nd.edu

CAM BRYAN IWR IWESTWOOD, MASSACHUSETIS)OSBANDIIRSON IRB ICHATSWORTH, CALlFORNIA

Bryan basks in complete ND football experienceAnderson gets his moment on and off the fieldone game time tradition thathas made Bryan's - as well asmany others' - Notre Damefootball experience all the morememorable."It's cliche, but running out of

the tunnel lis my favorite gamemoment]:' Bryan said. "It's thecooJest feeling in the world be-cause it doesn't matter if you're[junior wide receiver] Will Fulleror me, you still feel like you couldrun through a wall."And then once the game

starts you kind of realize thatyou're not Fuller, you can't runthrough a wall:' Bryan laughed."But it's just an awesome feel-

ing. To bave just one of thosefeelings left is bittersweet, butto get to experience Ihat whenthousands of people wish theycould just once has been an un-believable privilege."And beyond running through

the tunnel, Bryan said he con-siders his time at Notre Damean even more unbelievableprivilege."To be honest, it was kind of a

long shot that Iwould get in here;I didn'tthinkthat Iwould," Bryansaid. "It was always a dreamschool of mine, so I kind of justapplied not thinking I would getin, got waitlisted, then accepted.Then I just had no choice but tocome here." ... Notre Dame has been an

unreal experience for me, and ithas really just cbanged my life.It's turned my life around and

Martin is one of my best friendswho helped me out with a Jot oftraining," Bryan said. "We puttogether a workout program andexercises to get in shape andphysically ready for the tryout."[The coaches] told me noth-

ing was guaranteed, but I pickedit up as best I could and just triedto stay around here as long aspossible."Bryan did stick around after

those tryouts more than twoyears ago. The graduate studentwasn't ready to give up on histeam just yet."I'm just here for an extra se-

mester to be part of the team,"Bryan said. "I knew this yearwas going to be a special yearfor the team, and I didn't wantto sit back and be watching thenational championship from myoffice, so I felt like I had to comeback and be a part ofit all."While Bryan missed the

famed, undefeated 2012 sea-son, he said there were plenty ofgames in his career to make upfor, including one in particular."The best game being on the

field for was definitely Stanfordlast year when we came backand [former Irish quarterback]Everett [Golsonl threw tbetouchdown to Koyack in the endzone," Bryan said. "It was just aroller coaster of emotions, andbeing a part of that on the side-lines was awesome."And before every player

makes it to the sideline, there's

degree in global health if I can,if I get into that program, andthen after that I want to goto medical school, hopefullysomewhere back on the WestCoast," Anderson said. "Butwho knows, you never knowwhere I may end up. And thenbecome a doctor, that's mygoal."When asked what he would

like to do with his medical de-gree, Anderson noted a particu-lar interest in sports medicine."Maybe being a team doc-

tor somewhere," he said. "Thatwould be an ideal dream job for

I saw how hard he worked andwhat be did on a daily basis,and he kind of influenced meto work as hard or harder everysingle day. And then my father,he basically said, 'Go out tbereand be you, do what you wantto do, carve your own path.'''By his senior year, Anderson's

hard work was rewarded whenhead coach Brian Kelly award-ed him a scholarship.

"My dream came true,"Anderson said. "I've alwayswanted to be a scholarship ath-lete at the University of NotreDame. I wanted to be knownas an elite athlete, and I can'teven teJlyou, all my hard workpaid off. It's something that Ican't even believe I was able toaccomplish."Anderson's other cherished

memories of his time on theNotre Dame football team in-clude this year's game againstTexas, where he carried the balltwice."Getting called out in that

first Texas game, getting to goout on the field and taking a fewplays - it was just unbeliev-able:' Anderson said. "Lookingat the lights, the aO-plus thou-sand people around. I've gottasay that was just spectacular."Although Anderson has

achieved many goals already,he is still focused on his futureand is currently studying to be-come a doctor.

"I plan on getting my masters

By KIT LOUGHRANSports Writer

"1 was a preferred walk-an,"Anderson said. "I actually gotinvited to a spring visitationhere, so 1 came and met with[receivers coach Mike] CoachDenbrock, and he said, 'Yeah,we want you on the team: andthat's basically how it started."The next few years, were,

according to Anderson, filledwith "relentless effort, team-work and determination," asAnderson struggled to provehimseJf."Starting as a walk-on here at

Notre Dame, you kind of startfrom the bottom, you gottaearn your reps, you gotta showpeople, show the coaches thatyou know how to play ball andthat you can learn and tbat youcan get better:' he said.Anderson said the key to his

success as a walk-on was takingadvantage of chances."When you get an opportuni-

ty, you need to perform, and I'dsay that I was able to do that atcertain times, and that's whatbelped me," Anderson said.Anderson also credits the

support and inspiration he re-ceived from former walk-onrunning back Tyler Plantz andhis father as being especiallyhelpful during his time at NotreDame."I just looked at the older

walk-ens, and I saw how hardthey worked," Anderson said."TyJer Plantz, he was a walk-onbefore me, running back, and

I've always had that connectionto Notre Dame."Add in the fact Anderson was

able to walk onto the NotreDame football team - andearn a scholarship before hissenior year - his time here hasbeen, in his words, "surreal."Anderson began his Notre

Dame football journey in hissenior year of high school.

ByMOLLY MURPHYSports Writer

lnterhall to Division I footballis a pretty big jump in playinglevel - even more so for some-one who had never touched afootball growing up.But graduate student Cam

Bryan did just that."When I came in as a fresh-

man, I weighed about 160pounds and had never playedfootball before," Bryan said. "IpJayed basketball in high school,and then a buddy of mine talkedme into playing interhall foot-ball [for Stanford Hall].After one season competing

for the Griffins, Bryan decidedin the spring of 2014 to pursue along-time dream: to play footballfor the Irish."1 started to lift some weights,

and my junior year, and 1just feltlike trying out on a whim," theWestwood, Massachusetts, na-tive said. "Some of the assistantcoaches took a risk on me, es-pecially in letting a kid who hadnever played before on the team."I was just Jearning the sport

as it came along, rolling with thepunches and trying to prove tothem that 1 belong here and amworth the investment."But making the roster didn't

happen overnight for the 6-foot-2, and now 207-pound graduatestudent receiver.

"1 had friends on the team, and[graduate student center] Nick

For lash Anderson, a 5-foot-9running back from Chatsworth,California, just attending theUniversity of Notre Dame was alifelong goal."I've wanted to go to Notre

Dame my entire life," Andersonsaid. "My father went here, so

me."But even with the future in

mind, with his senior seasonwinding down, it is difficult forAnderson not to feel nostalgic."There's nothing like play-

ing football and going out thereon the field every day with theteammates," he said. "Evenwhen it's a grind, I'm gonnamiss that."Anderson said be continues

to make the most of every re-maining moment, however."Just today at practice, I had a

great time just because you canonly put those pads on so manytimes, and football is an amaz-ing sport, and yeah, I'm gonnamiss putting those pads on andbeing out there with my broth-ers." he said.

•

Irish senior receiver Cam Bryan, left, wanns up with teammatesbefore the Blue-Gold Game on April 18 at LaBar Practice Complex.

Nov. 21 and Stanford on Nov. 2B,that is."I'm going to be working in in-

vestment banking in Boston forRaymond James," Bryan said."The suit and tie won't be as

much fun as the gold helmet, butyou have to grow up some time."

me into a person that my familycan be proud of.It's been pretty unbelievable,

to see who I was then and who Iam now."His final semester and season

at Notre Dame coming to an end,Bryan now prepares to wear anew uniform every day - afterthe Irish take on Wake Forestthis weekend, Boston College on

Contact Kit Loughran atkloughrl@nd.eduContact Molly Murphy at

mmurph40@nd.eduIrish senior running back JoshAJukrson lilies up before a pl4yduring the Blue-Gold Game on April 18 at LaBar Practice Complex,

_ THEOBSERVER I FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015 I DSMCOBSERVER.COM

CHRIS BROWN IWR I HANAHAN, SOUTH CAROU A

Brown transforms experience into leadership roleByMARYGREEAs"lstanl xtanagtng Editor

Brian Kelly said earlier thisweek he would look back on thisyear's senior class as one thathelped build the program backto national prominence, andreceiver Chris Brown has beenthere through it all.A one of only two current se-

niors to have played in each ofthe 48 games of his career so far,the other being defensive line-man Romeo Okwara, Brown hasbeen about as consistent as theycome.So when it came time for

him to select just one momentover that four-year span as thehigh point, he's happy to oblige,but he'll take a moment to sortthrough his memories beforebringing you back almost to thebegmning."My freshman year, coming

out of the tunnel at USC, obvi-ously we know if we win thatgame, we go to the champion-ship. Just the electricity in thestadium and after that game,seeing Coach Kelly gettingdumped with the Gatorade bath,know that we were going to thenational championship - thatwas just a great experience," hesaid.

"fi\anu in v.cu:\to \\t.owns ccn-'t!l\5let\C"f 'M> a t:etmet. tnts eeescnespecially - he's second on theteam with 34 catches for 424 to-tal yards, just five grabs and 124yards short of career bests - theIrish could be in a similar posi-tion before they take the fieldagainst Stanford on Nov. 28, incontention to compete for a na-tional championship for the sec-ond time in four years.But first, Brown and his fellow

seniors will have to run out of thetunnel at Notre Dame Stadiumand sing the Alma Mater infront of the student section thisSaturday for one last time.When he thinks about that

upcoming inevitability, Brownpauses to take a deep breath,and his voice lowers into a softspeech before he slowly breaksout into a smile."I feel like it'll be a moment of

great joy but mostly just beingthankful, thankful for the op-portunity to play for this greatuniversity and represent thisschool and play for this team:' hesaid.Kelly said Sept. 29 that when

his staff was recruiting him,Brown "really wanted to be atNotre Dame: and how that de-sire translated into the strongwork ethic the receiver has car-ried with him since day one,an idea the Hanahan, SouthCarolina, native shared."Not being really recruited out

of high school - [ got a coupleteams that were recruiting meand stuff - but [ really felt likeNotre Dame gave me the oppor-tunity to compete because that'sone of the biggest things I try tobring every day, and they weren'tsaying, 'You're gonna play this,

you're gonna play that," Brownsaid. "They were like, 'We'regonna give you a chance to comehere, get a great education, gelbetter and compete: so that'sabout as real as it can get."He was able to compete right

away, appearing in the 2012 sea-son opener against Navy, but hisfirst catch came at as opportunea moment as a first-year playercould hope for. The Irish wereon the road against OkJahomain late October with tbeir unde-feated season on the line, and thegame was tied at 13 in the fourthquarter.Brown didn't have a single re-

ception to his name at that point,but quarterback Everett Golsonfound him deep for a 50-yardgain that set up the game-win-ning touchdown five plays later."I've had some pretty good

catches, but 1 always tell peoplewhen they ask me about it thatthe only thing f can rememberfrom that is coming to the side-line and [tight end Tyler) Eifertbeing on my left, and him saying,'That was a big catch. You knowthat, right?' And I looked at him,and it was kinda like, 'Yeah, Iguess so: and I'm thinking in myhead, "IhankGod I caught it:" hesaid. "That's one thing I can re-member from it." ....Though he already had sevengames under his belt at thatpoint, Brown admitted thatat that time, "I was extremelyclueless. I'm like, 'I just caught abomb, so I'm pretty excited aboutthat, but I'm just waiting untilthat next opportunity comes,"

It took a while before that nextopportunity came and even lon-ger before the receiver foundhimself in the end zone, butthat happened the next seasonagainst Air Force, a game Brownsaid will always stick out in hismind when he looks back on hisNotre Dame career.By the time his second season

was over, Brown found himselfina new position as the most vet-eran player in receivers' meet-ings. That's when he said he

realized it was his lime to stepinto the role ofthe group's leader,and he hasn't looked back since."I'd say it was Iguess the begin-

ning of my junior year:' he said."I was the oldest guy in the roomas ajunior, so I had a bunch ofre-ally talented receivers in there,and I figured, if I step up andlead us in a good direction, we'llbecome collectively a whole as aunit, and we'll be unstoppable."But the role was one Brown

had to grow into through his firsttwo seasons. While he struggledat times on the field, especial-ly in the stretch between theOkJahoma game his freshmanyear and Air Force the followingseason, he relied on hard work tobetter his own game each timehe took the field, and the confi-dence to lead came with it."Just knowing that I'm taking

care of my business and comingto work every single day really al-lowed myself to feel comfortableenough speaking out and speak-ing to younger guys and lettingthem know that, 'This is the rightway you should do it:" he said ofhis growth on the team. "Fromguys from the past, Tyler Eifert,[receiver] T,J. Jones, just seeinghow they took care of businessand their things and did every-thing the right way, and thatgives you a little bit of author-ity to tell people, 'This is how weshould do it: and that's the stan-dard that, when you're a senior,you try to leave, so that way thejuniors, they pick that up, andthe momentum carries it on."Alongside former teammates

Eifert and Jones, Brown creditedthe professors in Notre Dame'sAfricana studies departmentas people who have helped himgrow into a more vocal role inthe classroom, which he said hastranslated to the field. He saidthat reason was ultimately whyhe chose Africana studies as hismajor."Just great teachers, teachers

that - and this can be attributedto Notre Dame and the way theyhire teachers - teachers that

ZACH LLORENS I The Observer

Irish senior receiver Chris Brown checks his positioning before a playduring Notre Dame's 24-20 victory over Temple on Oct, 31.

really challenge me, teachersthat made me feel comfortableexpressing my opinions becauseI'm not the most talkative personwhen it comes to being in theclassroom and stuff, but they re-ally, not force me, but they reallychallenge me to get my voice out,and it made me feel really com-fortable with them, and I've beenblessed to have them throughoutmy process:' he said.After Brown wraps up his final

season in an Irish uniform andcrosses the stage to receive hisNotre Dame diploma, he said,"Hopefully, I have the opportu-nity to take my talents to the nextlevel and just continue to pursuemy dream."It's a little more of an unknown

of what he will do once his foot-ball career comes to a close,though, he said."But I definitely want to work

into a position where I can helpkids in that seventh-to-eighthgrade area where a lot of kids goastray lithey don't have the dghtkind of guidance system:' hesaid. "I saw guys that were just astalented as me in South Carolinago down the wrong path, just nothaving the right guidance, and Ifeel like that's where a lot of kidscan use extra guidance, almostlike a big brother program."But there are still more imme-

diate things Brown has to attendto first before he can continue hisleadership role in new capacities."The last time I run out of the

tunnel - a lot of emotions ...but a lot of good emotions, but atthe end of the day, it's about thatwin," he said. "That'll make it asealed Senior Day."

Contact Mary Green atmgreen8@nd.edu

NO MCOB ERVER.COM I FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13,20151 THE OBSERVER _

EMMET FARNAN \ The ObS9Nor

l~h graduate student receiver Amir Carlisle hauls in a reception and looks to shake two defenders during Notre Dame's 42-30 victory overPIttsburgh on Saturday at Heinz Field. Carlisle hauled ill four catches for 30 yards 10 bump his season totals 1021 recepllons for 222 yaTds.

things, and 1 didn't feel like my management from the Mendozattrne here was over, and God had CoUegeofBusinesslastMa)f.more in store for me and this team Though the duties assigned tohere, soitwasJustafaith-based de- being a starter on a 9-1 squad cer-cision. and I've loved my time here, tainly consume a large part of hisand it's been a blessing to be able to day, Carlisle said he enjoys takingbe here for a fifth year," he said. the lessons from that class andAs one of 10 graduate students researching different startups

on the Irish roster, a group that in- online.eludes fellowstarters such as center ''I'm really big into technologyNick Martin, cornerback Matthias and stuff, so I really like to, in myFarley and linebackerJoe Schmidt, free time, just learn more aboutCarlisle contributes to a leader- that and like coding language andheavy unit of Notre Dame's most stuff, so that's what I've been doingsenior players. this semester," he said."We have a lot of strong leaders Carlisle said he will prepare for

at the top of the team:' he said. "It's and participate in Notre Dame'salso been run that we're kind of the on-campus pro day once thisold guys around the block now. It season wraps up, but he also haskind of feels weird because it feels his mind set on using what he'slike yesterday when I was a fresh- learning right now in his futureman, but it's definitely been cool endeavors.to be around another year with the "Eventually, further away, whenguys I've been around for several football is over for me, I definitelyyears now." want to go back home, SiliconWhile,forthe first time, Carlisle's Valley, and really delve into the

situation in football has stayed the startup world," he said. "That's mysame from one year to the next career goal in terms of when foot-_ no transferring schools, no in- ball is over."juries to recover from, no position Even ifhe ends up back where heswitches-his non-football sched- started in California, Carlisle saidule has undergone a transfonna- he will keep up the bonds he hastion from taking a fuil classload as formed at Notre Dame.an undergraduate student. "There's so many different types"The primary difference has of resources that are available to us

just been being able to focus more as student-athletes here, and that'son football and a little less on the kind of been the most eye-openingschoolwork because I've got my experience for me is just meet-degree now and kind of just taking ing so many different people fromsome classes that really don't mean so many different backgroundsmuch, so being able to focus more and around the world actually,"on my craft and just having a little he said. "That's just really beenmore free time, so it's more of a re- an eye-opening experience andlaxing kind of lifestyle, definitely," something that I just look forwardhe said. to, buildingmoreconnectionswithThe receiver said he is enrolled future Notre Dame graduates as I

in just one graduate course this kind of transition out of here."semester, "Building a High-Techstartup," after he received his de-gree in information technology

AMIR CARLISLE IWR I SANTA ClARA, CALIFORNIA

• ., ., •• ZACH LLORENS I The ObserverSenior recetuer Chris Brown hauls '" OfW ofhls team-leading SIX receptions infront of Temple sophomo de" i .Notre Dame's 24-20 victory over the Owls on Oct. 31 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Brown ~ tL~nslrisveh~hk Sean C~ndler dllrl1lg..e WIt 72 recelVl1lgyards.

By MARYGREENAssistant Managing Editor

Amir Carlisle's collegiate careerhas been defined by transitions.After his freshman season, the

Santa Clara, California, nativetransferred from USC to NotreDame.He sat out the entirety ofhis first

year with the Irish with an ankleinjury andhad to battle back to playat running back his junior year.Then he moved down the hall to

the receivers' room his senior sea-son, lining up in the slot instead ofthe backfield.Now the graduate student is

wrapping up his fifth year, havingfound a home both at Notre Dameand with his fellow receivers."It's been very run in receivers'

room this year," Carlisle said. "lts acompetitive room, but we're reallyclose on the field, and we're reallyclose off the field, so I really thinkthat kind of depicts itself on thefield because we're such a unifiedgroup. We push each other to getbetter on a daily basis, so it's defi-nitely a fun experience, workingwith the guys, and I really enjoy itbeing the same guys from last year,and we've really had that opportu-nity to really build that camarade-rie together."As he continued to adjust to the

new position last season, Carlisletotaled 23 receptions for 309 yardsand three scores. Through the firstnine games of this season, he's upto 21 catches for 222 yards, averag-ing 24.7 yards per game in a unitthat's pulling in nearly 270 passingyards each week."Just having experience playing

from previous years has increasedmy football intelligence, so justbeing able to go out there and un-derstand the nuances of the gameand to be able to pass that on tothe younger guys has been run:'Carlisle said of what he brings tothe group.But he wasn't always a receiver,

and he wasn't even at Notre Damewhen he began his collegiate ca-reer four years ago."It was just a faith-based deci-

sion," he said of his move fromthe Trojans to the Irish. 'We reallyprayed about it because obviouslygoing from USC to Notre Dameand being rivals, I didn't reallythink it'd be possible at first, butGod opened up a door, and it wasa door that 1 couldn't pass on, so1 really couldn't pass up the op-portunity to come here when thatapport unity was opened. It was afaith-based decision, and it was adecision I'm happy with."Another decision came after the

Music City Bowl last December,when Carlisle had to figure out ifhe wanted to stay in South Bend foranother season and make up forthe year he missed because qf theankle injury. He said he realized itwasn't time to go just yet, and hisreturn meant all the mainstaysof the 2014 receivers group wouldbe back on the team for anotherseason."For me, it's always faith-based

decisions, just praying about

Contact Mary Green atmgreen8@nd,edu

GradlUlte shulenl receiver Amir Carlisle returns a kickoff dllringNotre Dame's 49-39 will over Navy Oil Nov. 1, 2014, al FedEx Field.

_ THEOBSERVERIFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13,20151 NDSMCOB ERVER.COM

CONNOR CAVALARJS ICB I LAKE FOREST, IlliNOIS

..Cavalaris earns scholarship through trust

By MAREK MAZUREKSports Writer

There are many ways of thinkingabout the word "scholarship." Forsome. it's an expected honor afterbeing designated as a five-star re-cruit. For Connor Cavalaris, it wasthe recognition of a job well done.A graduate student from Lake

Forest. Ulinois, Cavalaris had achoice to make coming out ofhigh school. He could commit to asmaller school and potentially geta starting job, or he could come toNotre Dame and not be guaran-teed anything. Cavalaris said he al-ways wanted to go to Notre Damedespite not receiving a scholarshipbecause he wanted to stay close tohome."Growing up in Chicago, Notre

Dame's got such a powerful fol-lowing," the cornerback said. "Asa young kid being exposed to that,it's something you know you al-ways want to be a part of that sortof tradition .... I'm about two hoursaway, so one of the best thingsabout my five years here was beingable to share the experiences withmy family and friends."While sharing his accomplish-

ments with his loved ones certainlyplayed a large role in his decision toattend Notre Dame, Cavalaris alsosaid he wasn't going to give up on

his dream of playing college foot-ball either."I wanted to go somewhere

where I knew I could challengemyself," Cavalaris said "I believedin myself as a player and wanted togo somewhere wbere I held myselfto a high standard and competewith some of the best athletes inthe country."Though Cavalaris believed in

himself, he said it was rough ad-justing to the collegiate level of playduring his first year."I remember as freshman, it's

definitely overwhelming to startplaying at a big college football pro-gram," Cavalaris said. ''You have tolearn from the guys above you, theolder guys. Irs a long process. ...You have to earn the trust of yourcoaches and perform on the prac-tice field, you have to earn theirtrustto be able to go in and performin games. And then, when you getthe opportunity, you have to go andrunwith It"Cavalaris' big opportunity came

when the team put him in' dur-ing the BCS Championship Gameagainst Alabama in his sopho-more season. Though the Irish lost,Cavalaris recorded two tackles andsaid playing in the national cham-pionship is a moment he will neverforgot."lt was an amazing experience,"

Cavalaris said. "It's the biggeststage for our sport. I rememberthe emotion going into it. I had myfamily in the crowd Idon't reallyremember a ton about the game.When the coaches trust you to goout there and perform at that big ofa stage, it's definitely exciting andan experience I'll remember therest of my life."With a championship game and

two more years of experience un-der his belt, Cavalaris' hard workpayed off, and he was awarded ascholarship going into his senioryear last season."Itwas a great feeling," Cavalaris

said. "To be recognized in that wayby your coaches and your peers, it'sreally special. All the walk-ens putin a lot ofhard work and a lot of stuffthat goes unrecognized. Whenthey announced it and to hear theroar of your fellow teammates whoyou've worked so hard with forthe past four years and they know. you've been with them every stepof the way, that's what's been verygratifying."Now in his fifth year, Cavalaris

said that he doesn't take anythingfor granted and tries to impart thementality that has worked for himto theyounger players on this year'steam as the season nears its end."Being a fifth-year senior,

you know it's one day at a time,"

CAROLINE GENCO I The Observer

Irish graduate student cornerback Connor Covalaris lines up duringthe Blue and Gold game on April 12,2014 at Notre Dame Stadium.

Cavalaris said. "It's one practice at atime. You can't think that far downthe road, you have to take onegame at a time. This team has a lotof talent, a lot of potential, we're allworking hard .... You have to han-die tomorrow; you have to handlethe next step in front of you first."And though he is not thinking

too far ahead ofhimself where foot-ball is concerned, Cavalaris did say

he plans to get a job in the financialworld after he finishes his mastersdegree in accounting."I'm hoping to get into invest-

ment banking," Cavalaris said. ''I'llfinish up my masters in accountingthis December, and I'llsee where itgoes from there."

Contact Marek Mazurek atmmazurek@nd.edu

~ llAlUU'.U \ot,\C\-\ARl..OTIE, NORTH CAROLINA

Harrell typifies 'right kind of guy' for IrishBy MAUREEN SCHWENINGERSports Writer

Irish head coach Brian Kelly'searly recruiting mantra wasfinding the RKGs - the "rightkind of guys" - for NotreDame's pwgram.When senioroffensive lineman Mark Harrellwalked onto campus in 2012,Kelly said he fit that biU."[RKGsl have to have the

right character traits," Kellysa id Feb. 1, 2012. "They have tounderstand Notre Dame andthe value of an education, andMark Harrell comes from thatenvironment."Hailing from Charlotte, North

Carolina, the three-star pros-pect was an early commit. Hedidn't have a childhood affinity

for the Irish, but he said he sawsomething special in SouthBend after his first visit."When the process started, I

didn't have any biases towardone particular school," Harreiisaid. "But 1 always saw ND asa place that was prestigious. Asfar as I was concerned, NotreDame was the only one thatcould offer both an unbeliev-able athletic experience as wellas that academic experience."Though Harrell redshirted

his freshman year, he said hewas still able to travel and dresswith the team in the 2013 BCSChampionship Game."Despite being in the reserve,

I was able to go with the teamand experience that," Harrellsaid. "That was awesome and

obviously something I'll neverforget."He played right guard and

center as a sophomore but sawno playing time until his thirdyear, making appearancesaga inst Rice and Michigan.This season, he's participatedin hree games at right tackle.The lepth behind the Irish of-fens. ve line was a hurdle forHarrell, but he said he has takenit all in stride with his positiveattitude."Hopefully I'm an RKG in the

light that I show up every dayand try to be better, make thepeople around me better,' hesaid. "You have to hold yourselfaccountable, both academical-ly and on the field. You have tolearn to sacrifice the things you

Irish senior offensive lineman Mark Harrell, righs; rushes to join in the celebration after a Nom: Dametoucluiown during the team's 62-27 victory over Massachusetts on Sept. 26 at Noire Dame Stadium.

want to do to make the team thebest it can be."A sociable person, Harrell

said he has especially appreci-ated the brotherhood of the of-fensive line that he has foundand fostered as a senior leader."You do so much with your

position group, with the O-line,"he said. "We're just so close witheveryone there. The experienc-es I've had with the guys in myposition group over the years-new kids. guys who have gradu-ated - are really memorable."The larger Irish community

has also been a highlight ofHarrell's Notre Dame experi-ence. He said he's felt a togeth-erness with the student bodythat many other colleges can'toffer."The greatest thing about

ND as a whole is the immer-sion between student-athletesand regular students who don'tplay varsity sports," Harrellsaid. "It's so different thanother schools, where they tryto isolate the athletes in certainareas and certain classes. Thecultural immersion has beenamazing."Harrell took advantage of

an opportunity not usuallyavailable for student-athletesthis summer, studying abroadthrough the South Africa forStudent-Athletes program."You see a lot of kids that

don't play sports who are able togo abroad, and you want to be

abie to do that, but that's typi-cally something that we aren'table to experience," Harrellsaid. "Being able to go to a placelike Africa with fellow student-athletes was really awesomeand eye-opening. That was atrip where I saw things thata lot of people in this worldcan't say they've been able toexperience."Looking to the future, Harrell

could return for a fifth seasonwith his final year of eligibil-ity. It's a chance he said he'd bewilling to take."I would love to have another

year here, if I'm fortunate to beable to do that," he said. "Otherthan that, I'll just use my NotreDame degree to the utmostbenefit."Harrell said he looks forward

to the upcoming festivities ofSenior Day, sharing in a homefinale that has, as usual, comeall too fast for this senior class."You come here as a fresh-

man, and you think [Senior Dayis] ages away. You don't eventhink about it," Harrell said. "Allof a sudden, just like that that,it's right here. So being able todo something that I've seen ev-ery single year here - obvious-Iy that's a very special thing. I'mlooking forward to being able toexperience that with my familyin this last game."

Contact Maureen Schweningerat mschweni@nd.edu

.. ND MCOB ERVER.COMI FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13,20151THEOBSERVER _

SCOTT DAIl' 115 IDOWNERS GROVE, ILUNOIS

Daly finds the complete experience at ND

~ef1n~Ul(;eyourauto lOanby visiting yoU( local branch,camng 844-ft1Cl-,4488 or visitilf

N~DameFCU~DllAutoSavittgs toapply!

By MICHAEL IVEYSports Writer

As a senior coming out ofDowners Grove South HighSchool in Illinois, Scot! Dalyhad plenty of Division I foot-ball scholarship offers.He was named the national

high school long snapper ofthe year for 2011 after win-ning the inaugural Herbalife24 Chris Rubio Award and wasranked the No.1 long snapperin the nation for the class of2012 by Scout.corn. But Dalysaid making the decision towhich school he wanted to at-tend was easy."Notre Dame had the whole

package," the Downers Grove,Illinois, nalive said. "Whenyou look at academics, athlet-ics, being close to home andthe whole family and spiritual-ity aspect, it was just second tonone when I was in my recruit-ing process. It was really thebest choice. I wouldn't want togo anywhere but Notre Dame,and I'm happy with my choice,and I'm glad I got to have fourincredible years here,"Daly started playing orga-

nized football when he wasin fifth grade and when it waslimefor the team to find a longsnapper. they turned to him.."Growing up, I was the only

person that could do it," Dalysaid. "Starting in fifth gradewhen I first played football,

I was the only kid that couldthrow the ball back there half-way decent enough. I reallydidn't think much of it at first,but starting my sophomoreyear of high school, my sopho-more coach came up to me andsaid, 'Hey, you have a raw tal-ent, and you can play collegefootball if you really wantedto.' So I started to go to somecamps and met up with ChrisRubio, who is now my long-snapping instructor to this dayand really turned me into thelong snapper I am today. loweeverything to him. He reallytook my game to the next leveland was a big parr of me beingable to long snap here."Daly has been the starting

long snapper for the Irish since2013, and he said the job re-quires a considerable amountof mental toughness."It's like a golf swing," Daly

said. "It's really muscle memo-ry. Throughout when I startedlong snapping, I would watcha lot of film on guys who did itthe right way and noticed thatall of them did the same thingevery single time. I kind of de-veloped a little routine where,when Iwent out onto the field,it just second nature to me soI don't have to think too muchexcept to just go out there anddo what I do best and hope-fully have great success whiledoing it."Il can be tough for a student

EMMET FARNAN I The Observer

Irish s~nior long snapper Scott Daly sprints downfield on punt coverage during Noire Dame's 42-30 winover PIttsburgh on Nov. 7at Heinz Field. Daly has been snapping on punts and field goals for three seasons.

athlete to juggle his or her Dame but also being in an ath- football moment came dur-sports commitment with letic program that holds you to ing last year's bowl game, theschoolwork, but Daly says it's the highest standards. It's very 2014 Mus\c City Bowl, when hesimilar to learning how to long tough, especially freshman snapped the baH tor the game-snap. year coming in here and oav- winning field ,&oa\to help the"It's very tough," Daly said.. iUKto be ve1:'\'wise with time \-':\.5hneat LSU. 3"\.-'2.\\.

"1 think any Notre Dame stu- managem.ent. .."\....a1!!l't.')'eal:, "oe\n.\; an"\..e\.~ ~a'Pdent-athlete can attest to that "But as you go on, you defi- off a tough five-game stretchwhen they're here at a .fine ac- nitely start to develop a rou- to go ahead and hike the gameademic institution Jike Notre tine in which you can juggle winning field goal in tbe bowl

both athletics and school and game against LSU and to sendbe able to have success on and the seniors off with a win afteroff the field." losing on senior day last yearThe senior is enrolled in the was definitely a great memo-

Mendoza College of Business ry," he said.and is majoring in manage- Daly gives credit 10 Rubiomerit consulting. as his biggest influence in his"It's a great major and some- football career.

thing you can use in a lot of ar- "In terms of football specifi-eas.' Daly said. "I'm not exactly cally, I would have 10 say mysure where I want to go after instructor Chris Rubio hasgraduation, but I'm just trying helped me the most," Dalyto get my foot in the door and said. "He put me in such atry to test some waters in the great position to be looked atfinance field and the medical by Notre Dame as weIl as otherfield and just anywhere where schools during my recruitingI can have the most difference process. Not only did he helppossible." me in the long snapping andGrowing up, in addition to football phase, but he also

playing football, Daly was also helped me become a betterskiIled in martial arts, earn- man. just to do the Iittle thingsing a black belt in taekwondo. and be professional on and offDaly says martial arts has the field and lowe almost ev-helped him with his football erything 10 him."career. Daly will aim for the NFL"It was just something I did after graduation, but if that

growing up," Daly said. "My doesn't work out, he has a rewmom and my dad just got me other career paths in mind,into it and thought it would "After graduation, 1 hope tobe something that would be tryout for the NFL," Daly said.a lot of fun to do. I really en- "It's definitely been a goal ofjoyed it when I started in first mine since I got here my fresh-grade and did it all the way for man year. If that doesn't workfive or six years until I got my out, I have a Notre Dame de-black belt in sixtb grade. It was gree that I can faIl back on anda great learning tool that al- take to whatever field I wishlowed me to learn a lot about 10. I'm not exactly sure whichdiscipline and responsibility field I want to pursue but Iand that really transitioned would definitely want to doto the football field in making something in the business orsure I can do the little things medical field."and be professional on and off ------------the field."Daly says his favorite

,\

Contact Michael Ivey atmivey@hcc-nd.edu

_ TH EOBSERVER I FRIDAY, NOVl!MBER 13, 20151

SHElDON DAY' DL 11 DlANAPOLI

Day returns for final shot at championshipByDANIELO'BOYLESports wrtrer

Before his final home game forNotre Dame, senior defensivetackle Sheldon Day's main con-cern isn't the chance of' the Irishmaking the College FootballPlayoff, or impressing NFLscouts that mal' be interestedin him: he just wants to give hismother, Carol Boyd, a hug at theend of it all."She's been my biggest sup-

port system through the ups anddowns," Day said. "Just to see herbeing able to run out and give hera big old hug in front ofBI,OOO,it'sgoing to be a special moment forher. I know she's going to enjoyit, and remember it and teU hergrandkids and everything likethat. It's definitely going to be aspecial moment for her.

"I know if [ see my mom cry,it's going to make me cry. But I'mgoing to try to stay strong. Thereare a lot of emotions last timerunning out of that runnel infront of 80,OOO-plus. It's going tobe a great time and a great expe-rience. Just kind of overwhelm-ing a little bit, and just to knowthat I've done a lot of good thingsin my career here, and I'm justhappy that [ can have a seniornight."Day almost didn't have a

senior 'Da)' a\ No\te Dame. "Thehighly-rated defensive linemenwas expected by some to declareea rly for the 2015 NFL Draft, buthe decided to come back for an-other year with the Irish instead.Day said the strength of thelrish team and the camaraderieamong his teammates ensuredhe would return for one moreyear."The opportunity to play for

a national championship, and

Irish senior defensive lineman Sheldon Day lays a hit on Navy senior quarterback Keenan Rey ..otds duri ..g Notre Dame's 49-39 victory over theMidshipme .. on Nov, I, 20/4 at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. Day registeredfive tackles and o..e quarterback hurry i.. the win.

just being with those guys in thelocker room, it's something manypeople regret," Day said aboutthe prospect of leaving early. "Ifyou do leave early, like the lockerroom experience, there is noth-ing like it, so [ don't think manypeople can give that up,"Day said the process of decid-

ing to stay early or return was notan easy one, but he said goingthrough the decision with senioroffensive tackle Ronnie Stanley,who was also a top prospect forthe 2015 NFL Draft before alsodeciding to return for his seniorseason, helped make the deci-sion easier for both players."We definitely shot some texts

back and forth," Day said. "Hetold me that his decision rodeon my decision, and [said that'stoo much pressure for me, 'Don'tdo that to me.' But we definitely

texted back and forth to seewhere we were and try to dothings like that because we saidwe want to train together,"But Day - who had been told

by the NFL Draft Advisory Boardthat returning to Notre Damewould likely he the best option-was the first of the two to decideto return for one more year."I think it was me," Day said. "I

said more than likely I'm going tocome back. He said, 'Are you se-rious?' And 1 said, 'Yeah.' I thinka couple days after that he textedme and told me he was comingback. Then [head coach BrianKelly] announced it."Day said he still sometimes

thinks ahout his decision to re-turn, but that he knows he madethe right choice."[Ronnie and IIactually talked

about that the other day," Day

said. "We were driving home,and he said it [would've beencrazy if they left] because wewouldn't he able to experiencesomething like this: Just theguys in the locker room, and howmuch fun we're having this sea-son, and just heing around theguys, it's crazy that if we wouldhave went the other way, howthings would have been muchdifferent."Day's final year has certainly

heen a successful one, and onethat may make NFL scouts evenmore interested. The senior hascollected three sacks this season,as well as a team-leading 11.5tackles for loss - both are careerhighs for Day. He has also made21 solo and 33 total tackles thisseason, which put him on coursefor career-highs, and has record-ed a tackle for loss in seven ofNotre Dame's eight outings thisseason. He also added the firstforced fumble of his Notre Damecareer when he sacked Temple'sjunior quarterhack PI Walker inthe 24-21 win over the Owls onOct. 31. Day said Notre Dame'sstrength and conditioning coachPaul Longo and defensive co-ordinator Brian VanGorder de-serve most of the credit for hisimproved performances."Oh, man, coach Longo's done

a great job," Day said. "You cansee it in my play, and how [I've]changed since last year andhow physical I've become andjust my mentality going forth.Coach VanGotder's done a greatjob with my mental state. CoachLongo's done a great job withmy physical state. So I felt like Ichanged a lot from last year tothis year."As a part of Notre Dame's class

of 2016, Day has already playedfor a national title once, againstAlabama in 2013 BCS NationalChampionship. However, hesaid he still believes the seniorclass can deliver Notre Dame'sfirst national championship in27 years."Man, hopefully we're the

class that everybody remembersIrish senior defensive lineman SI",ldon Day breaks oJfthe line of scrimmage during Notre Dan",'s 42-30victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday in Pittsburgh, Day finished with two tackles, including one for a loss.

that puts Notre Dame hack ontop," Day said."Coming in as freshmen, that's

all we could talk about, a nation-al championship ... We didn'tknow how much it took to getthere, hut we're kind of learninga little hit about it right now. Soit's definitely a blessing to kind ofgo through th is experience."In his second consecutive sea-

son as a team captain, Day hasbeen a key leader on an Irish de-fensive line that has turned insome impressive performancesthis season. Day said he real-ized towards the end of trainingcamp that the unit looked like aformidahle one.Day said he had a feeling that

the team was going to be specialone this year. "Then the laterweeks of camp was just seeinghow much we started to com-mit ourselves and see how seri-ous we were about the learningof the game, and just seeing howmuch we were starting to domi-nate and seeing everything startto fall into place."However, Day said being in

a leadership role is a lot easierknowing he's surrounded byother capable leaders on defense."I'd definitely saywe know our

roles and when we need to stepup," Day said. "11 something'sgetting out of hand, we know oneof the many leaders we have willstep up."Day said the team can rely on

one person not on the roster forsome extra support: his mother,who has shown her support forDay and his teammates at al-most every home game of hiscareer."My mom's pretty much a

team mom," Day said. "Shecooks fat the team, she supportsthe team, and she's pretty muchmade every home game exceptfor a couple ... She's definitelybeen the biggest support systemand tried to support me in everyway possible."

Contact Daniel O'Boyle atdoboylel@nd.edu

MArrOW FARLEY ICB I CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLI A

NDSM OB ERVER,COM I FRIDAY, OVl!MBIlR 1S,20151lHEOBSERVER _

Farley finds confidence as captain of Team 127By KIT LOUGHRANSports Writer

Not many would believe aNotre Dame football captainever walked onto campushis freshman year lackingcan fidence.Matthias Farley admitted it,

though."1 came into Notre Dame

very moldable, shapeable andunsure of myself, questioningif! could cutit in school, cut itin football," Farley said.

It seems shocking the 5-foot-11, 21O-pound graduate stu-dent cornerback was unsureof himself - especially onthe field. But his five years atNotre Dame did the reassur-ing trick."Notre Dame challenged me

day in and day out, on and offthe field, and has pushed meto become an all-around bet-ter person who's a lot moreconfident in h is abilities,"Farley said.Farley has certainly proven

his abilities for the Irish sincetedshirting in 2011, He's accu-muiated 178 tackles and eightinterceptions - not to men-tion almost 11,000 Twitter fol-lowers - hetween 2012 andNotre Dame's 42-30 victoryover pittsburgh last. Sat.urday.. And Farley's impressivephysical and leadership pres-ence on the field earned himone of the acclaimed captainpositions for "Team 127.""It's definitely heen one of

the biggest, if not the biggest,honors of my life to lead thisteam and be somebody whoguides the team, encouragesthe team in times that are

good and times that are bad,"Farley said. "There's not thatmany captains in the historyof Notre Dame, so it's definite-ly an honor to be parr of thatgroup and this 'Team 127.'" ... _I think it's a special

team this year and a specialgroup, It's been awesome 10 bea leader on this team."Farley and his fellow four

captains - graduate studentcenter Nick Martin, gradu-ate student linebacker JoeSchmidt, senior defensivelineman Sheldon Day and ju-nior linebacker Jaylon Smith- make up the largest season-long captain group since 2007.These five and their team havedropped just one loss this sea-son, a close 24-22 loss 10 No.1 Clemson on Oct. 3. With nodefeats since, they head intotheir last three regular seasongames against Wake Foreston Saturday, Boston Collegeon Nov. 21 and NO.7 Stanfordon Nov. 28 with a shot at theCollege Football Playoff."We're taking it one step at a

time, " Farley said. "We are ina good place right now. We'rewhere we want to be as far asthe season has heen up 10 thispoint."But it's obviously not over.

We've got a lot..of work to do.and we've got three great op-ponents coming up, so wehave to be on our 'A'-gamebecause we know they're go-ing to he on theirs. Not timeto look to BC yet, not 10 lookto Stanford; it's to really focuson Wake right now and to justmake sure we're ready to playour best on Saturday."Even Notre Dame's recent

o. 4 tanking in the CollegeFootball Playoff rankinghasn't phased Farley,"It's cool and a very excit-

ing thing, but I think every-one really understand thatyou don't get anything frombeing ranked four or one, twoor three right now," he said."It makes us that much morefocused,"Defensively, Farley and the

Irish have managed seven in-terceptions. including Farley'seighth career pick against Pitt."Just to get better [has been

our goal defensively],' Farleysaid. "I think we've had longstretches in games wherewe've done really, really welland other times when there'sa lack of focus by one or twopeople, and if we aren't fo-cused and locked on eachand every single play then bigplays happen.

"1 think it's an incrediblegroup of guys that has all thetalent in the world. We justhave to stay focused for 60minutes.""Not 58," he laughed.With Senior Day this

Saturday, Farley will have tostay focused for 60 minutesjust one last time in NotreDame Stadium."1'he"'[e'gbeen a \0," of. v"rea\.

memories [at this stadium],"Farley said. "I'd say beatingMichigan last year was reallyexciti ng ... and Stan ford in2012, singing the Alma Materafter every game, the studentsection has always been awe-some, and running out of thetunnel is an awesome experi-ence I will definitely miss."There's a lot of memories

E.MMET FARNAN \ ihe ObseNer

Irish graduate student cornerback Matthias Farley i.ntercepts a passduring Notre Dame's 42-30 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday.

_ l.t..'$hard \.0 o\.nl)Q\n.t..\U$\.one."

Reminiscing those memo-ries - not to mention hiscareer-high 49 all-purposeyards in that memorable 2012Stanford game - and con-templating the NFL as an op-tion after the season, broughtFarley back what started it all:his decision to come 10 NotreDame.

"U.'& been. '-he %,.'tea\.e'&\.nee\.-sian rve ever mane," l'aT\eysaid. OIl wish / were able to goback and be a freshman allover again and do it all again.

"It's changed me as a personfor the better, and it's going tobe something that I miss everyday when I leave."

Contact Kit Loughran atkloughrl@nd.edu

, hes a hal/fal/just beyond his grasp during Notre Danae's 42-30 victory over Pittsburgh. Farley registered a team-high sevenIrish graduate stmknt cornerback MatthUJS Farley wate nI th the Irish defense. He also picked up his first i.. terceptIon of the year during the game and has forced one fumble,

, ked his season totaIto 29, n ontackles i..the game, whICh pus

r

ND MCOBSERVER.COM IFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13,20151 THE OBSERVER_ THE OBSERVERIFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 20151 NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

CHASE HOUNSHELL ITE IKIRTLAND, OHIO)AIlRETI' GRACE ILB ICINCINNATI

Grace rebounds, returns to field against oddswasn't expected to see much play-ing time this year. But that hasn'tbothered him, as he said he hasno regret as a member of theprogram."Coach VanGorder, used to say,

'Have no regrets. Everything that'shappened has happened for areason, and be happy that it hap-pened, learn from it, and moveon:" Hounshell said. "I really haveno regrets about my time at NotreDame, and I think it's worked outfor the best."As the Irish continue to im-

prove week after week and assertthemselves as playoff contend-ers, Hounshell said the chemistryon this team is similar to what heexperienced with the 2012 teamthat made the BCSChampionshipGame, which was one of his favor-ite memories as a member of theprogram.

"In 2012, when we had an un-defeated season, there was justsomething different about thatteam," Hounshell said. ''Youcould always tell that that teamjust meshed real well together.Everyone was just best friends,and that was just something youlooked back In hindsight and arelike 'Wow, what a great team andgreat people: and 1 feel that samechem\stIy in the \ocker room th\s"fear:'

However, after Meyer "retired," heultimately chose to come to NotreDame as a defensive lineman."I ended up coming here for

defensive end, which is what Iwanted to play," Hounshell said. "Ifelt like that was kind of my bodytype."As the Associated Press's co-De-

fensive Player of the Year in Ohioin 2010, Hounshell was one ofmany talented defensive linemanin the 2011 recruiting class for theIrish. Many people questionedwhy he decided to join a class thatincluded the likes of Stephan Tuitt,Ishaq Williams and Aaron Lynch,but Hounshell said he had other

reasons that made otre Damethe obvious choice for him." umber one [wasl definitely

the people," Hounshell said. "Ihad visited Notre Dame probablyfour or five times, and every singletime, you just meet new people,new teammates, new coachesland] the parents of the currenttearnmates. There's just some-thing about Notre Dame that at-tracts great people."Obviously Iwas lookingat edu-

cation, too. I knew 1wanted to gointo business, and Notre Damehas the No. 1 business school inthe nation, so it was just kind of aneasy choice."Whlle he never served as a start-

er for the team during his fresh-man season, Hounshell continuedto work hard and found his wayinto seven games for the Irish asa reserve, including a four-tacklegame in a win over Air Force.Then in the first game of his

sophomore season, he suffered ashoulder injury that cost him theremainder of the season. His ju-nior year was also lost to injury,and Hounshell said it was a diffi-cult time for him."Yeah, that was definitely hard,"

Hounshell said. "My family helpedme out a bunch. lust talking to myfamily helped a lot. My twin sis-ter p\ayed college basketball. andshe got. hun, so 1 'Was.t.a\.k.i.ng toher about her injuries. My brotherplayed football in college. and

he got hun, so I talked to him laswell),"Every ingle day, you go out to

practice, and you can't practice,but you rehab. [Head football ath-letic trainer) Rob Hunt was phe-nomenal helping me rehab everysingle day."However, he was able to make

the comeback his senior seasonand found his way into threegames. His comeback culminatedwith an opportunity for extendedplaying time against USC, a gamein which he recorded two tacklesfor the Irish.With an extra year of eligibility

avallable to him, Hounshell de-cided he wanted to make one lastpush to help the team in any waypossible. After sitting down withIrish head coach Brian Kelly, hedecided to return to the team, butthis time as a block-first tight end.It was a transition that Hounshellwas more than willing to make,but one that wasn't easy either."You definitely have to open

up your eyes," Hounshell said."There's just a lot of technique andstuff you're so used to as a defen-sive lineman, so every time youcome off the ball, you're just lock-ing someone up and ripping out,but now it's the complete oppo-site. So it's just been \ike little bab)'steps, and I've been pr0'6tessm,&and. '{)TOWesSo'\.nv,.. ..With a deep light end group the

Irish had this season, Hounshell

By BEN PADANILAMSports Writereven expect that to be as much of a

setback as it was."But things are going to happen

the way they do. We don't reallyhave control over everything. I'mjust extremely grateful to even playagain because there was a lot ofdoubt about that."I'd like to say there wasn't any

doubt, but there was. I kept it in thevery backmost part of my brain.Because when I had to go get thatsecond surgery, and then wheneveryone said I would be able togo through camp and that wasn'thappening. it was a mental battleevery single day. Itwas like, Alright,Jarrett, if you think it's not going tohappen, then it's not going to hap-pen, so you've just got to attackit every single day: Then when Istarted making progress, I thought,'No, I'm not going to settle for notcoming back, I need to come back.For myself and for everybody else,roo."After redshirting his freshman

season, Grace made his debut forthe Irish in the season opener atAviva Stadium in Dublin in 2012.He said he'll never forget the firsttime he stepped onto the field in aNotre Dame uniform."The first time I stepped onto

the field in Notre Dame was inIreland," Grace said. "That wasdefinitely a unique experience.'There was only one other teamat that point that could say that. 1guess just to represent the Irish andto run out the tunnel for the firsttime with 80,000 people snrround-ing you is incredibie. I don't knowwhat kind of adrenaline rushesother people get from doing othercrazy thing, but that to me is theultimate adrenaline rush, it's theultimate goosebump, bone-hillingexciting moment. It's ingrained inmy memory."After a strong year on special

teams for the Irish in 2012, whomade it to the BCS ChampionshipGame, and half a season as astarter in 2013, Grace suffered hisinjury. But despite aU the doubt,he returned to practice and thento the field for the Irish for the 2015season. Grace said his excitementon his first game back, when Texasvisited Notre Dame Stadium, al-most got the better of rum."Playing against Texas, that was

crazy," Grace said. "Iwas so jackedup for that, even more than myfirst game. I actually pulled myhamstring in that game, I was so

By DANIEL O'BOYLESports wruer

Not many players are given theoppottunity to play on both sidesof the field during their careers,but graduate student tight endChase Hounshell was one of theplayers athletic and intelligentenough to do it.Coming out of Lake Catholic

High School in Mentor, Ohio,Hounshell was a standout line-man on both sides of the football.When he had the opportunity todecide where he wanted to contin-ue his career, he originally choseto play for Urban Meyer at Florida.

For many otre Dame footballplayers, the first game they play forthe Irish will be the greatest mem-ory of their college careers. But forgraduate student linebacker JarrettGrace - who missed a year and ahalf of action with a broken leg suf-fered in the 2013season - itwas allabout his second "first game": hisfirst time back from two surgeries.Grace had made the starting

middle linebacker position hisown for the Irish, replacing formerAll-American Manti Te'o and lead-ing the team with 40 tackles in theopening six games. But then camethe moment that was almost hislast on the field for Notre Dame: anArizona State lineman landed onGrace's leg and fractured his tibula.Grace said he knew he needed todo whatever it took to return fromthe injury."That injury definitely was an

eye-opening experience:' Gracesaid. "To be honest, it sucked. Ithinkthat anybodywill tell you thatgetting hurt sucks. but you haveto draw the positives out of it, andforme personally, it gives me sometime to reflect and figure out what'sreally important in my life. It gaveme some time to just sit back andwatch how people interact, watch~ lrom a different perspective.so when 1was able to return, 1wasable to bring a new kind ofpassion.I didn't take anything for granted.Taking the field for the second timemeant so much more to me:'The injury was supposed to rule

him out for the rest of the season,but it wasn't supposed to keep himfor 2014, too. Recovery took longerthan expected though, and theCincinnati native found himselfneeding further surgery. The line-backer was forced to watch fromthe sidelines. Grace said he knewhis injury was serious but had noidea itwould seehim miss so muchtime."I knew it was bad:' Grace said.

"If something keeps me on theground, then generally it's prettybad. I wanted to try to walk it off,but that just clearly wasn't happen-ing. The doctors tell you one thing.that in six months you'll be goodand you'll start running again, butthen it kind of lingers, and I couldfeel it inside my body. I could tellit wasn't right. Having to get thatsecond surgery sucked, but I didn't

Irish graduate student linebacker Jarrett Grace.far left, celebrates with junior receiver Torii Hunter In, center,after the Irish doumed a punt at the one-yam line during Notre Dame's 62-27 win over UMass on Sept, 26,

excited. I was in great shape and Kelly elected to bring in Grace at the game Hook some snaps at thathydrated and all of that, but I was strongside linebacker for the sec- spot. So for everyone to believe inso jacked up and excited to be ond half, a change that coincided me meant the world for me. Afterback, I pulled my hammy. But it with Notre Dame shutting down the game [defensive coordinatorwas a blast, it was a celebration on the Midshipmen's triple-option Brian] VanGorder told me he wasthe field. Every single play, just eel- attack. really proud ofme, and that meantebrating my teammates. I'm eter- "Playing versus Navy this year the world because it kind of feltnally grateful to people for sticking was an absolute blast because it like I was back out there and ablewith me, I'm thankful for God, just was the first time I saw real action to contribute to the team in a real,for being arock for me when times at linebacker in almost two years," tangible way again, and I didn'twere reallydark." Grace said. "Thatwas great forme. know if I'd ever have anotherGrace's contribution in 2015 just because they trusted me, even chance to do that. That was huge,"

wasn't just occasional special though Ihad little experience- inteams plays, though. Against fact I had zero experience at thatNavy, Irish head coach Brian spot really. Just two days before

CHRIS CO\..LINS \ "Tn. Ob8e<V1!lt

"'Tris'h~te stUdent tight end Chase Hounshell, 18, sings theAlnuzMater following Notre Dame's win ooer Texas on Sept. 5.

Contact. Ben "Pa\\anUarn atbpadanJl@nd.edu

Contact Daniel O'Boyle atdoboylel@nd,edu PATRICK MAZZA i DL IGLEN ELLYN, ILUNOIS

Family ties run deep between Mazza and NDand playing for a program likethis, all wrapped up togetherin one college experience ispretty cool and unique."

at Notre Dame has been a spe-cialone."It's a tightly knit place,"

he said. "With the people youmeet and the relationships youform, all while getting the ben-efits of a top-flight education

his role on the football team,he also entered Notre Damewith the goal of excelling inthe classroom, a goal whichhe said he feels he has alsoachieved."I think I did pretty well,"

he said. "I'm in good positionto be where I want to be a yearfrom now when I'm looking togo to medical school."Mazza's talents extend be-

yond the football field andthe classroom, as well. Thedefensive lineman was alsoa member of Finnigan's, thedefending champions of theannual Bookstore Basketballtournament, which Mazza saidhas been one of the highlightsof his time at Notre Dame."Bookstore has always been

something that I've looked for-ward to being a part of:' Mazzasaid. "I had always heard aboutthe guys who played hereback in the '80s, like the TimBrowns. It's definitely a prettyspecial thing, and to be able toadvance to the final and thenbeat the three-time champswas a ton of fun. We had a bigcrowd there, and having thechance to playa sport that I'mnot playing for the school wasa good change of pace."Mazza said he has made

the most of his time at NotreDame and that his experience

been an easy one, but Mazzasaid it has been worthwhile."Being a walk-on presents

certain chalienges in terms offootball." he said. "But I ac-cepted my role, and I fulfilled itto the best of my capabilities."Being a student-athlete at

Notre Dame is not somethingMazza said he takes lightly.The pre-med major has goalsof ultimately going to medicalschool and becoming a physi-cian, a dream he said has beenjust as long-standing as theone he had to attend NotreDame."It's been a goal for a pretty

long time now:' Mazza said."My uncle was a trauma sur-geon down in Galveston,[Texas.] and I've always lookedup to him. I was definitely in-spired by him."Being a student in one of the

most demanding majors NotreDame has to offer, as well asa varsity football player, hasforced Mazza to learn to man-age his time effectively andstrive for baiance, he said."It's definitely tough jug-

gling being a pre-med majorwith football." Mazza said."You just get better at it as yourcareer goes on, and you learnhow to handle it. It has endedup working out pretty well."While Mazza has fulfilled

By ELIZABETH GREASONSports Writer

Attending Notre Dame wasnot a difficult decision for se-nior defensive lineman PatrickMazza.For him, Notre Dame is a

family affair.The Illinois native's parents

and older sister ali attendedthe University, so he grew upas an Irish fan. He said he hasfound Notre Dame's combina-tion of strong academics and ahistorically powerful footballprogram as perfect fit for him."I've pretty much always

wanted to come here," Mazzasaid. "It was a pretty easy de-cision. It's been pretty cool tobe able to get a top-flight edu-cation, pursue what I want todo after coliege and at thesame time be able to be a partof a top-flight program likethis. It's been pretty cool. Youdon't have that kind of oppor-tunity at most schools in thecountry."Mazza's ascent to the big

stage has been anything buttypical, however. For the firsttwo years of his Notre Damecareer, Mazza played interh-all football for his dorm, SorinCollege, before walking on tothe varsity team last year. Thepath to the top has not always

Contact Elizabeth Greason ategreason@nd,edu

PAlO ADVERTISEMENT

,

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 110P-1A LAFORTUNE BALLROOM

FREE CHIPOTLEBUILD YOUR OWN BURRITO

Co-sponsored by Unchained MelodiesND/SMC/HCC Students Onlyf /saoND W @SaoND ~ @sao_ND

Senior linebacker Jarrett Grace, middle, observes action from thesidelines in Notre Dame's 43-40 loss to Northwestern on Nov, 15,

_ THE OBSERVER IfRIDAY, NOVEMBER IS, 20151 DSMCOBSERVER.COM -

3:30 P.M. ON NBGWAKE FOREST

ANNMARIE SOLLER IThe Observer ANNMARIE SOLLER I The Observer

DEMON DEACONS PASSINGWake Forest's quarterback situation has

been up in the air this year, and not be-cause the Demon Deacons have the luxuryof choosing between two good options.Both sophomore john Wolford and fresh-man Kendall Hinton have thrown more in-terceptions than touchdowns, and the duohas thrown for just 10 scores in nine gamesthis season.Then again, the Demon Deacons aver-

age the same number of yards per game,229.9, as Virginia, and the Irish secondarystruggled in that one, ceding289 yards andtwo scores to Cavaliers quarterback Mattjohns - he hasn't thrown for more since.The Notre Dame secondary, however,

has started to step up the last few out-ings to win games. They largely shut downone of college football's best playrnakers,Pittsburgh receiver Tyler Boyd, a week go,and they've stepped up with big intercep-tions as of Jate: KeNarae Russell and MaxRedfield hepJed secure the USC win in thefourth quarter with interceptions, whileRussell stepped up two weeks later to sealthe Temple victory. And don't forget theimportance of Matthias Farley's intercep-tion last week in keeping Pittsburgh at bay.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

DEMON DEACONS RUSHINGA quick look at the stats suggests an ugly

picture for the Wake Forest ground game:they're a bottom-l0 unit, averaging just110 yards per game this season. Only one"Power Five" school is worse running theball, and that's Mike Leach's WashingtonState squad. But unlike the Cougars,the Demon Deacons don't sling the hallaround through the air.If one wants to make Wake Forest's rush-

ing statistics look any worse, just lake outlhe 203 yards it gained in a September winover FCS foe Elan - it's averaging just 98.3rushing yards per game against FBS teams.While the Irish run defense hasn't heen

the greatest thing in the world, it's heengood enough lo see Notre Dame run offthree straight wins over teams with sixor more wins. It's hard to see it strugglingwith Wake Fares!.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

DEMON DEACONS OfFENSIVECOACHINGDespite having an offense that doesn't

rank particuJarly well anywhere, headcoach Dave Clawson has kept Wake Forest'sgames close hy instilling what Irish headcoach Brian Kelly referred to as a "bali-con-trol" offense. Three of their losses have beenby single digits, and lasl time out, they lost20-19 to a more-talented Louisville team.However, the Irish faced a similar, more-

talented opponent last week in Pittsburgh,and hy getting significantly ahead, theypushed the Panthers out of the ability toshorten the game.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

DEMON DEACONS SPECIAL TEAMSThere's a fairly evident point of inflec-

tion in kicker Mike Weaver's game: on fieldgoals attempts of 39 yards or fewer, he'spretty good, posting a lO-for-11 mark. Buton field goal attempts of 40 yards or more,it's a different story; Weaver's just l-for-fwith a long of 47. But give him credit for hisfield goal against Boston College - it wonWake Forest the game, 3-0.The kickoff return game has been piti-

£u\, averag\n% lust 17.24 yards per return,seventh-worst in the nation, while thepunt return unit is amongst the bottom 15in college foothall.On the flip though, the Demon Deacons

have one of the best punting games in thecountry, averaging 41.2 net yards per punt.That's eighth in the nation, and four-year-starter Alex Kinal could make an impact ifthe Wake Forest defense can keep it close.

EDGE: EVEN

DEMON DEACONS SCHEDULE (3-6)Sept. 3 Elan (W 41-3)Sept. 12 @Syracuse (L 30-17)Sept. 19 @Army(WI7-14)Sept. 26 Indiana (L 31-24)Oct. 3 Florida State (L 24-16)Oct. 10 @Boston CoUege (W 3-0)Oct.17 @NorthCarolina(L50-14)Oct.24 North Carolina State (L 35-17)Oct.30 LouIsville (L20-19)Nov. 14 @Notre DameNov. 21 @ClemsonNov. 28 @Duke

(r-Pr.) Cortez Lewis lEIWR(r-jrj johnathan Williams 83

(Fr.) Tabari Hines III WR(Fr.)ChuckWade 89

NOTRE DAME STADIUMNO.4 NOTRE DAME

DSMCOBSERVER.COM IFRIDAY, NOVEMBI!R IS, 20151 THE OB ERVER ..

EMMET FARNAN I The ObserVer

IRISH PASSINGIf there were any lingering questions

about DeShane Kizer's ability, he likelyanswered them a week ago at Pittsburgh,throwing for 262 yards and five touch-downs as the Irish hung 42 on thePanthers. Will Fuller caught three of thosetouchdowns, running his season total to12 - only three players have bettered himthis year in that departmeot.Statistically speaking, the Demon

Deacons defense has been one of the bet-ter in college football this year, concedingjust 184.2 yards per game, but opponentshave thrown on the Demon Deacons just222 times, second-fewest in the country.But Pitt's defense entered last aturday's

matchup with the Irish holding similarstatistics, and Notre Dame torched thePanthers secondary.

EMMET FARNAN nwQb88rvef

(Fl:) 1\TIerBell IIiI RB(So.) tsaiah Robinson 2\

(So.) John Wolford lID QB(Ft} kendallHinton 2

(r-Pr.) Justin Herron IIil II(r-Fr.) Ryan Anderson 70

(r-J<) lYIer Hayworth IIil LG(r-Fr.) Ryan Anderson 70

(J<) Josh Harris lIIiI C(So.)A'UqueTerry 55

(r-Sr.) Dylan Intemarm lIIiI RG(r-PrJ Patrick Osterhage 68

(r-Fr.) Phil Haynes m RT(r-$rJ Dylan .Inlemann 63

(R-So.) Cam Seriene lIIiI 1'[(So.) ne&l Pike 4\ I[

RCB IIIKeNarae Russell (Sr.)12 Devin Butler Or.)

WLB II Javlon Smith (JrJ4 Te~n-Coney(Fr.)

8 IIIMatthias Farley (Gr.)22 I!lijahShumale(Sr.}

DE lEIRomeo Okwara (Sr.)96 Andrewlhimbetti (So.)

Dr liDSheldon Day (Sr.)93 fay Mayes (So.) MLB EllJoe Sclunidt (Gt"-)

59 jarren Orece (Gr.)

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

looking even better.More important than Kizer's ability to godeep may he having the right timing to doit- and the Irish certainly did that againstthe Panthers.The Pitt win marked a third straight gamein which the Irish scored on their openingdrive, and while the Wake Forest defensehas looked solid on the whole, it's strug-gled with higher-octane attacks.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

IRISH SPECIAL TEAMSAfter a rough game at Temple, Tyler

Newsome recovered last week in a higway, booting three punts that went formore than 50 yards. When he's been on hisgame, he's heen a real weapon for the Irish,and he showed that against Pitt, helpingNotre Dame gain 20 yards on an exchangeof punts.There wasn't too much in the return

game against the Panthers, but with theway the offense was playing, there didn'tneed to he. C}. Sanders made good deci-sions on when to, and when not to, bringkickoffs out of the end zone - and NotreDame's punt-block touchdown againstusc shou\dn't be tm:gotten. Tn,-':'>has beenthe best Irish return game in the BrianKelly era.After some ea rly-season struggles, Justin

Yoon has settled down recently, calm-ing concerns with another perfect out-ing against Pitt, though he didn't attempta field goal. His 52-yard field goal againstNavy showed his range and justified BrianKelly's faith in his freshman kicker.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

IRISH SCHEDULE (8-1)Sept. 5 Texas (W 38-3)Sept. 12 @Vlrginla (W 34-27)Sept. 19 Georgia Tech (W 30-22)Sept. 26 Massachusetts (W 62-27)Oct. 3 @Clemson (L 24-22)Oct.lO Navy (W 41-24)Oct.17 USC (W 41-31)Oct. 31 @Temple (W 24-20)Nov. 7 @Pittsburgh (W 42-30)Nov. 14 Wake ForestNov. 21 vs. Boston CoUegeNov.28 @Stanford

(Gr.) KJBrent ED WR(Fr.)AlexBachman 87

• (J<) BradWatson IiliI LCB(So.) Thomas. Dillon 37

Dr IIilDaniel Cage (So.)99 lerryTlllery (PrJ

IRISH RUSHINGWhen C.). Prosise went down at the end of

the first quarter last week, there may haveheen reason for concern about the groundgame. Prosise was coming off a weak per-formance at Temple, and Notre Dame wasgo\n~ to have to turn to a heshman.. lashAdams. to take the carries the rest of theway.He responded with a J47-yard perfor-

mance that reaffirmed the strength of NotreDame's rushing game when the offensiveline is on top of its game. The Irish have atop-20 rushing attack on the year and haveonly struggled to run the ball twice this year- against their two hest opponents.That should not he an issue this week:

Wake Forest's rushing defense is outside thetop 50, paving the way for the Irish line torule the day.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

IRISH OFFENSIVE COACHINGIt took three plays for Notre Dame totake the lead at Pittshurgh last week, andafter scoring to go ahead 14-3, the Irishnever saw their lead shrink to single digits.DeShane Kizer and Will Fuller connectedfor three scores despite Kizer overthrow-ing the junior receiver on two occasions:The game plan was inches away from

(r-Sr.)Brandon Chubb IlllBLB(So.)JaboreeWilllams 39

l..5<.)HunterWillimnsID80V(r-J'r.) Detnett'iml1Cemp. 34

(r-SoJ WendellDwm m•(r-Jr.) Josh Banks Il!I

(r-fr.}WlliieYarbary 92

(Jr.) Marouel Lee IIIMLB(r-So.ltrant Dawson 50 (80.) Zeek Rodnev Il!INT

(Sr,) TylorHarJ'fs 36

(r-Jr.) Ryan Janvion Ea W8(r~FI.)Cameron Glenn 2 (r-So.) Duke Ejiofor EDDE

(r-Fr.) etirisStewart 96

(Gr.) zach Dancelll 8LB(Jr.) Thomas Brown 26

(Fr.) DionteAustin mRCB(Gr.) Devin Gaulden 3

II(r-80.) Mike Weaver lID PK

(Fr.l Ben Brov.'I'l 97

(r-S<) Alex KinalEll P(r-So.)MikcWeaver lB

(Fl:) Tabari Hines III PR(Fr.) AlexBaclunan 87

(r-Sr.) Alex Kinalllll H(r-Jr.)Ste'oIeOonutell 17

(F<)Chuck Wade lIIiI KR(Fr.)ManColbum 22

(Fl:) Garrett Wilson lEIL8(r-]L) Steve Donatell 17

Greg HadleyEditor-in-Chief

Mary GreenAssislanl Managing Editor

Zach KlonsinsklSports Editor

In its bid to replicate the success of2012, Notre Damewill play one of few teams it truly blew out during itsrun to the BCS National Championship.Expect a similar result against Wake Forest this

weekend. The Demon Deacons have not heaten anylearn with a winning record this year, and their passdefense, while respectable, will not be ahle to containa surging DeShane Kizer. And the Irish running backswill have a walk in the park against the porous WakeForest run defense, with or without C.). Prosise.On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame's defense

may not match the 2012 unit, but it also isn't going to beall that tested by a team that ranks 116th in the nationin scoring offense.

Last time Notre Dame faced Wake Forest, the 2012 SeniorDay, the Irish came away with a 38-0 victory. This year's se-nior class should expect that sa me type of goodbye.The Irish are really clicking at this point in the season

and gaining recognition for it, as the latest College FoothallPlayoff ranJdngs showed, and the Demon Deacons won'tbe able to slow them down.The most uncertain things about this game is whether

it'll be the last at Notre Dame Stadium for laylon Smith andWill Fuller and if the senior students in the stands run outof marshmallows before halftime.Otherwise, it'll be as ideal a sendoff as imaginable for a

senior class that-using this phrase for old time's sake-helped return Notre Dame to relevance.

Last week, I went the route of Notre Dame controllingthe game against Pittsburgh and winnIng by more thanone score for only the second time in their last 11 match-ups-and it worked.So I've got to go with my gut and once again cut against

the grain, except this time the other way: Notre Dameis going to give up more points than it should against aWake Forest offense that finds itself somewhere between"dismal" and "floundering."Not that it's going to matter, though.The Irish rushing attack will drive through the Demon

Deacons defense regardless of who is carrying the ball:Prosise, Adams or Kizer. That's just going to open theplay-action game for that guy named Will Fuller.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 42, Wake Forest 10 FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 42, Wake Forest 7 FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 45, Wake Forest 21

DE IllilIsaacRochellur.)55 jonathan Bonner (50.)

8LB iiiJames Onwualu Ur.)48 Creer-Martinl (50.)

LCB ~ £?Lti,~~(Jr.)

rr lEI'J.YlerLuatua (So.)I[ 10 AlwHones(Fr.)

RT lIIiIMike McGlinchey (Jr.)75 MarI::HarrelHSr.)

RG IllI Steve EImer U<l60 Job:n MonrelusUr.)

C IlJNick Martin (GL)53 Sam Mustipht!rtSo.)

LG ElIIQuenton Nelson (So.)62 COlin McG<M.!rn CIr.}

[J IIilRonnie Stanley (Sr.)70 HunterBivin.(Jr.)

IIDeShone Kizer (So.)J 2 Bmndoll Wimbush (FT.)

Brian PlamondonSpons Wriler

Notre Dame's defense hasn't allowed fewer than 20points since its season-opening victory over Texas. Thingscould change this week, however.Wake Forest's offense is ahysmal' scoring only 18 points

per game, good for 119th in the country. What makesmatters worse is that the Demon Deacons can't evendecide on a quarterback, rotating sophomore lohn Wolfordand freshman Kendall Hinton in the middle of games.Although the Irish should he wary of a trap game when

they are sitting at numher four in the most recent CollegeFootball Playoff rankings, this is not one. The Irish shouldtake care of the Demon Deacons on hath sides of the hallon Senior Day, allowing them to play their reserves by thefourth quarter.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 41, Wake Forest 15

IlII C.l_ Prosi/le (5<.)33 Josh ADams (Fr.)RB

QD

WR" ~~fr\iSle (GL)

WR IIChris Brown (S<)88 Corey Robinson (Jr.)

H mDeShone Kizer (80.)4 MOlltgomeryVanGorder (So.)

KR III£i'c.~~frs(Fl:)LS!~~tll&(5&)

PK 11IIJustin Yoon (Fr.)43 John Cheresoo (lr.)

P 1lII1\TIerNewsome (So.)42 J;,{Riney (Fr.)

PR II C.}.Sanders (Fr.)7 WIllFulh:r (Jr.)

!r\l Alex Carsonl.J.:J Associate Sports Editor

The hooJdes in Las Vegas typically know what they'redoing, and there's a reason Notre Dame opened as a26.5-point Sunday over Wake Forest. On one sideline,you've got a team ranked No.4 in the College FootballPlayoff ran kings, and on the other, one that hasn't scoredmore than 19 points since September.This is a classic case where there's a vast

talent gap between two teams, and as such, a focusedperformance from Notre Dame should see this gamewrapped up midway through the third quarter. And withSaturday's game being the last in Notre Dame Stadiumfor a slew of influential seniors, I see a good outing.

Wake Forest covers the spread, hut only through theback door.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 37, Wake Forest 14

.. THE OBSERVERIFRIDAY, NOVllMBER 13, 2015\ NDSMCOB ERVER.COM

)ARRON JONES I DLI ROCHESTER, EWYORK

Jones overcomes personal challengesBy MANNY DE IESUSSports wruer

Maturity.It's a difficult concept 10 wrap

one's head around. There's auniqueness behind how eachperson reaches it, and there isn'talways a correlation betweenage and maturity, as most wouldlike 10 think.

Not everyone grows at thesame rate. Most people gothrough distinct obstacles thathelp push them to become ma-ture individuals. Others mayjust naturally grow into their"coming-of-age."

In senior defensive linemanjarron Jones' case, he said hebelieves his up-and-down ca-reer at Notre Dame has madehim the best version of himselfhe could possibly be.

Last season, Jones tallied 40tackles with seven and a halfof them being tackles for a lossbefore being lost for the seasonwith a foot injury. He missedthe defeat 10 USC in the regular-season finale and the Irish vic-tory over LSU in the Music CityBowl.

Heading into this sea-son, Iones was placed on the\..ombatd\ ltO'phy pteseasonwatch \\st, wbieb. is given out\.0 \..b.e be.'!!.'- \.\netnan.. o'\\e.n'80\vecr cetenswe, In me country.Primed to make his comebackon a defense L'hat returned 10of 11 starters, Jones sufferedyet another setback. It was an-nounced Aug. 15 Jones had tornhis MCL during fall camp andwould sit out the entire season.

"That was probably the mostheart-breaking moment," jonessaid quietly. "Tearing my kneehas been my biggest fear. I'veseen so many other people gothrough it, and it's just such along recovery process .... I wasscared to death when I foundthat out because I knew I wasn'tgoing to play all year."

Tearing his MCL was the cul-mination of all the obstaclesjones has endured four yearsinto his tenure at Notre Dame.Before even arriving to campus.the Rochester, New York, nativehad to make life-changing deci-sions that would guide his pathtowards becoming who he istoday.

In April of 2011, lanes said hegave a verbal commitment toPenn State based solely on onething: "I chose Penn State strict-lyon party reasons. I was veryimmature during the recruitingprocess," lanes said. "In wake ofmy senior year, I realized that Ihad to make bigger decisions inmy life. I was looking at myselfat Penn State, and I didn't seemyself being the best I could be.I took my visit to Notre Dame,and that's when I saw myselfbe-ing the best I could possibly be."

Before started his senior sea-son at Aquinas Institute, Jonesdecommitted from the NittanyLions and decided Notre DamewouJd be best. He said he

understood making the com-milment 10 go 10 a school forfour years was a decision thatshouldn't be based on just howfun it might be but rather thelife track the institution wouldput him on.

Despite being rated as thesecond-best player in the stateof New York coming out of highschool, according to Rivals.com,Jones said his senior year did notgo as well as it he envisioned it.

"I didn't have the season thatIwanted my senior year," jonessaid. "I didn't play up to the ex-pectations that I put on myselfand that everyone put on me.I kind of had to deal with thedownside of recru iting. I was afive star in like every site, andat least top 20 overall, and aftersenior year, I dropped tremen-dously. Ihad to deal with that,and that's when Ihad to use the[U.S. Army All-American Bowl]to prove myself."

On every play, every mistake,every penalty called on himand every sack, someone waswatching Jones and evaluatinghis potential. Was he going to bean impact player coming out ofhigh school, or had his ceilingbeen reached in high school?The pressure of having to playl\ke the best p\a"jer in New Yorkand ",:now,,-n% he was beinog dis-sected on every pray mace it dif-ficult for Jones to play up COhisstandards, he said.

But he also said handling thatpressure was just another stepinto becoming a better versionof himself.

"It was part of growing up,"Jones said.

Once he arrived to campusin 2012, lanes said he acceptedbeing redshirted and practicedwith no intention to win a start-ingjob on purpose. He struggledwith becoming accustomed tohis new life 500 miles away from

his home, but he said he knowshis struggles were just the nextstep in the process.

"I spent the whole year justgrowing up," Jones said. "I wasactually supposed to play, andthe thing was, I chose to prac-tice in a lackadaisical manneron purpose because I felt like aredshirt was better for me, butthen looking back on it, maybeI should not have taken thatredshirt."

Despite not playing, jonessaid he learned a tremendousamount from the players whoplayed during Notre Dame's runto the 2013 BCS ChampionshipGame. He took the lessonslearned and implemented theminto his own style of play, whicheventually earned him playingtime the next season.

jones played in 12 games andstarted against Stanford later inthe season. He tallied 20 tackles,a forced fumble, one sack andtwo blocked kicks, one of whichwas a game-changing block inNotre Dame's 23-13 win overBYU. His successful sophomorecampaign led him to the start-ing rotation the following year.

The foot injury againstLouisville last season gave Jonesyet another opportunity to ma-ture. \t was the first injury hehad eveT sustained, and whilemost players would have letme injury get the best oi them,Jones said he knew he needed toovercome the obstacle to reachhis pinnacle as a player.

"It was just something that Ihad to learn to do on my own,"Jones said. "I just had to learnhow to stay positive throughit all. ... I felt like I had to startall over because freshman yearI was watching games .... Oncejunior year came around, I feltlike there was no looking back."

Eleven games since his lastsnap, Jones is recovering from

MiCHAEL YU I The Observer

Irish senior defensive lineman ]arron]ones looks to the sidelineduring Notre Dame's 48-17 win over Rice onAug. 30, 2014.

his knee injury with his eyes seton making a return for NotreDame's bowl game. Sitting at 8-1and still in contention for a spotin the second annual CollegeFootball Playoff, Jones said hethinks there's a chance he cnuldmake his return to the field inlate December or early January.

"After surgery, things weren'tas bad as we thought," Jonessaid. "We're trying to shoot forthe bowl game. There's a chance- I'm not making any promises- but I'm trying not to push it.It's hard not to push it becauseyou want to get back and play ...

but you can't just get back andplay." -'

Jones said he has also learnedto be patient and understandingwhile being a mentor to fresh-man Jerry Tillery and sopho-more Daniel Cage, who are bothfilling in for Jones in his absencealong the defensive line.

With his mind set on makinga comeback for the postseason,Jones said he is prepared to takeeverything he has learned withhim back to the field this year.

Cnntact Manny De Jesus atmdejesus@nd.edu

at Notre Dame, especially in the'90s and ever since then, has al-ways been a sense of pride, andwe just try to carry that on."

Ca rrying on meant weatheringa positional shuffle in 2014 afterthree games, as Martin transi-tioned from center to left guard.Then, in spring practice thisyear, he went back to center, evenas question ot to whom he wouldsnap the ban - Everett Golson orjunior Malik Zaire - remainedup ;n the air.

For the most part, Martinand the offensive line has beenspared the injury bug that over-took Notre Dame early this sea-son. But they did have to dealwith big changes in personnelaround them, as Prosise andKizer took over in the backfield.Still, Martin emphasized consis-tency when it came to adaptingto those changes.

"It's business as usual. We liketo keep things the same up front,we have to prepare the same way,and we galla play the same way.Doesn't mailer who's behind us,"Martin said after Kizer took overfor the injured Zaire.

Keeping the offensive linehumming along is not much ofa challenge for Martin. Datingback to the days of his brother,the unit has always been close-knit on and off the field, and asa leader last year, he spent timewith the younger lineman talk-ing about life outside football.

But as the only offensive cap-tain this season. Martin has ex-panded his role in that regard toinclude other position groups.His consistency and skill on thefield, though, are not quite thesame in the other pastimes heshares with his teammates.

"I'm not a big video game guy,"Martin said. " ... I don't evenknow why I'm telling you this,but we had a league, [andl WillFuller literally beat me by about100 points in Madden. So that ex-plains to you how bad I am."

DSMCOB ERVER.COMIFRWAY,NOVllMBERIS,2015ITHEOB ERVER ..

you're running the ball andthere's a safety in the bole thatI'm running to every time, it'shard to block that guy. They'renot accounting for that guy,there's only five of them," Prosisesaid.

"We played this game a longtime, and you know you're notgoing to be able to rush for 200yards ever"j game, that's not real-ity," Martin said.

After the game, Ma rtin 's fellowgraduate student and captain JoeSchmidt said no one on NotreDame would smile for the nextweek. On Oct. 7, the linebackersaid he was still "livid" over theloss.

Martin was also upset after theloss, saying the Irish were "toogood of a team 10 come downand lose this game."

But by Oct. 6, he said, he hadturned his focus to Navy, refus-ing to let the defeat bother himanymore.

"Yeah, anger, you know,"Martin said of his emotions fol-lowing the game. "It was defi-nitely not easy to lose. But youwin a game, you lose a game. Yousit down, watch the film, learnfrom mistakes. Go on and getready for Navy.

"[I) definitely have a chip onthe shoulder. But I put it to restafter Monday."

That determination to moveon is key to Martin's leadershipstyle, he said. After five years atNotre Dame, three starting andtwo as a captain, be has learnedto stay level-headed and consis-tent for his teammates.

"I always look to give the sameevery day. Whether it's adversity[or] good times, people have tobe able to rely on you to be thatsame guy," Martin said. "I try tobe the same guy every day."

Toiling away, Martin has beenabout as consistent as anybodyelse on the line this season so far.And that makes him invisible 10most fans. Almost always, theonly time an offensive lineman'sname is spoken during the gameis when he is called for a penalty.

NICK MARfIN I OL IINDlANAPOUS

So far, Martin has been flaggedjust twice this year, both for falsestarts,

But that anonymity doesn'tmean Martin's teammates don'trecognize his consistent play inthe trenches.

"He's always the same. he's al-ways out there, the same leader,the same guy every day:' Prosisesaid. "He's always encouraging.he's always motivating. It's greatto have him as the leader of ouroffense because we can alwayslook to him to be positive andlook to him for that leadership.He's an amazing guy, and I'mglad that's the guy I get to run be-hind every day."

That consistency has belpedto put Marlin in a small circleof two-time captains for NotreDame. He and senior defensivelineman Sheldon Day joined thatgroup at the beginning of thisseason, bringing the total to 21 inprogram history.

"[It's al very special sense ofpride," Martin said of the honor."It's probably one of those thingsthat won't hit you until you leave.lust to represent all those peoplethat came before you, I think,is the biggest thing. You lookup on the wall, and you see allthose amazing people that camebefore you, and you representthem."

One of those people who camebefore Martin is his older broth-er, Zack. Another two-time cap-tain, Zack Martin last suited upfor the Irish in 2013 and has sincebecome an All-Pro lineman withthe Dallas Cowboys.

By watching and playingalongside Zack, Nick grew intohis own as a leader, he said. Healso developed an apprecia-tion for the consistency of NotreDame's offensive line - not onlyfrom week 10 week, bUI over thespan of years.

"It's about the people that comebefore you," Martin said Sept.30. "The Ovlines, having guyslike Chris Wall, Zack Martin,Christian Lombard, those guys,and even before that, the O-line

Martin becomes anchor of Irish offensive lineBy GREG HADLEYEditor-in·Chief

Editor's Note: A version ofthis article originally appearedin the Oct. 9 edition of TileObserver.

Nick Martin: the centerpiece ofNotre Dame's offense.

Not sophomore quarterbackDeShane Kizer, not junior re-ceiver Will Fuller, not even seniorrunning back C,J. Prosise. It'sgraduate student center and cap-tain Nick Martin that propels theIrish attack forward.

That's not Martin's opinion.It's what his teammates say.

"He's the guy that makes it go,"Prosise said of Martin. "Withouthim, we couldn't have a well-oiled machine liI<e we do. Andjust his leadership on the fieldand what he does for our teamhas been amazing."

As Martin goes, so does NotreDame's offensive line. And asthe O-Iine goes, so does the Irishoffense. Through the first fourgames of the year, the front fivedominated, opening up massiveholes for Prosise 10 run throughfor 600 yards and six rushingtouchdowns and protecting thequarterback to the tune of justfive sacks.

"WithMartin at center and se-nior Ronnie Stanley at left tackle,the Irish line features what manypundits consider future NFL tal-ent. Add that 10 one of the bestrushing games in the country,and Notre Dame seemed primedto ride the run all season long.

"As an [offensivel linemanwe love to run the ball," Martinsaid Sept. 30. "We liI<e when wehave success. Going back to our

MICHAEL YU I The Observer

Irish graduate student center and captain Nick Martin prepares to snap the ball to junior quarterback Malik zaire during Notre Dame's 38-3win over Texas on Sept. 5.Along with senior defensive lineman Sheldon Day, Martin became a two-time captain this year.

running backs, the way they run... it's unbelievable. Up front,we work our butts off to try andmake holes and do our best."

Then ca me the Oct. 3 gameagainst Clemson. In the pouringrain, Martin and the line strug-gled, allowing four sacks and fiveother tackles for loss in a 24-22defeat to the Tigers. Prosise had50 yards on 15 attempts and washit at or before the line of scrim-mage on 44 percent of his touch-es, according to ESPN.

Prosise did not blame the linefor Notre Dame's rushing strug-gles, and Martin said the Irishwere bound to experience a set-back at some point.

"I can never say our Ovline dida bad job in that game. They dideverything they could. When

Martin approac1u!s the line of scrimmage during Notre Dame's 30-22ioin over Georgia Tech on Sept. 19 at Notre Dame Stadium.

Contact Greg Hadley atghadley@nd.edu

DSMCOBSERVER.COMIFRIDAY, OVEMBER 13, 20151TIlEOBSERVER __ THEOBSERVER IFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015 INO MCOBSERVER.COM

ROMEO OKWARA IDL ICHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROL! AHAMON MCOSKER I 5 I SAN PEDRO, CALIFORNIA

Multi-faceted Okwara prospers on defensive lineMcOsker cherishes rivalry wins over USCweight for the first time .... IHeis} understanding the game, thematuration of that, physicallymaturing, keeping his weighton."While Kelly was optimistic

about the prospects of Okwaraimproving as an individual,Okwara focused on the line'spotential as a whole after thewin over Pittsburgh."We had a solid performance,

but there is always room togrow," Okwara said. "We haveto keep getting better each andevery day and keep practicinghard."Okwara has come a long

way since he was cut from hiseighth-grade football team justa few years after moving to theUnited States. The next year, hemade the team at Ardrey KellHigh School in Charlotte, NorthCarolina, and never lookedback."It was kind of surreal when

I started getting offers. I got myfirst offer from Duke, and thecoach called me, and I didn't re-ally know how to handle that,"Okwara said Sept. 23. "I wasn'texpecting it. f started practic-ing a lot harder, and knowingthat, I had to be a lot bet ter."Upon arrival at Notre Dame,

Okwara was younger than theother freshmen, but said theveterans from his area and theleaders at the linebacker posi-tion - including Manti Te'oand Carlo Calabrese, amongothers - helped him adjust tothe college environment."My freshman year here,

we had [former linebacker]Prince [Shembo] here who'sfrom Charlotte, we had [gradu-ate student safety] Matthias[Parley] here who's from

By RENEE GRIFFINSports wrtrerchampionship nod and won

the following season, 14-10. TheTrojans crushed the Irish, 49-14,last year. But, luckily for McOsker,he ended on a 41-31 victory overUSC at home Oct. 17."Beating USC, especially this

year, has definitely stood out tome," McOsker said. "Being fromSouthern California and after thatwhooping we had last year, it wasnice to have a great performance,with both sides of the ball playingweU."McOsker said he's pleased with

the work the defense has putin this year as the team chasesa berth in the College FootballPlayoff."We've been working on be-

ing a more consistent defense,"McOsker said. "We had timeswhen we played really well andwhen we haven't played thatgreat, so the goal this year hasbeen to get everyone on the samepage to play the highest level forfour quarters."" ... We're another year smarter

in our defensive scheme. We havesome playmakers on the offense,everyone on the team gets along,and we have a really special,unique bond, which is importantin reaching the national cham-pionship. We're playing well andfinishing our games."

"Go Irish," he spiritedly added.Butwhen it comes to game time,

there's one Rudy-esque momentthat stands out for the 5-foot-I1.5,205-pound safety."There's nothing like running

out of the locker room and tunnelon Saturdays," McOsker said. "It'sa unique, awesome experience."I still rememher my first time

freshman year running out ofthe tunnel. I got chills down myspine."That same chill-sending feel-

.ing especially struck McOskerhis freshman year when the Irishwent 12-0 to make it to the BCSChampionship Game, eventuallyfalling 42-14 to Alabama on Jan. 7,2013."That whole freshman year, na-

tional championship season wasgreat," McOsker said. "The na-tional championship itself was anawesome experience."Up until about a couple min-

utes into the first quarter," he add-ed with a laugh.And it's no surprise the San

Pedro, California, native andLoyola Academy alum wouldrevel in having the chance to takeon his local rival, USc. During hisNotre Dame career, McOsker andthe Irish have fared 3-1 againstthe Trojans. The Irish won, 22-13, in 2012 to get the national

By J(IT LOUGHRANSpon Wriler Where to start with Romeo

Okwara?With the fact that the 6-foot-

4, 270-pound senior starter onthe defensive line leads theteam in sacks, racking up six al-ready this season?Or that he came to Notre

Dame as a 17-year-old and willgraduate with a degree in ac-counting from the MendozaCollege of Business at the ageof20?Or that he moved to Charlotte,

North Carolina, from Nigeriawhen he was in middle school?Or that he and junior receiver

Corey Robinson were featuredin an episode of Showtime's"A Season with Notre DameFoothall" for their ukuleleplaying?The answer is that no matter

where you start, Okwara is any-thing but average.Heading into Senior Day

against Wake Forest, he is com-ing off two of the most pro-ductive games of his career: aseven-tackle, one-sack perfor-mance against Temple and afour-tackle, two-sack showingagainst Pittsburgh.Irish head coach Brian Kelly

said Tuesday that Okwara is"playing his best football" rightnow. Kelly also said the linemanwill only get hetter from here."When he stepped on cam-

pus, he was 17 years old," Kellysaid. "So as we continue to talkto NFL scouts, we tell them,"Look, you're just getting a kidwho is just learning how to playthe game."[We're seeing] the matu-

ration of a kid that's kept his

Committed to play forPennsylvania, this SouthernCalifornia native ultimately re-found his way to Notre Dame andhis Irish roots.Senior safety Eamon McOsker

knew a thing or two about NotreDame - with his dad, sister andbrother all Darners - when hedecided to retract his decision toplay for the Quakers and insteadjoin the Irish roster as a preferredwalk-on."My dad went here so growing

up Iwas always a Notre Damefan; McOsker said. "1 grew upwatching Notre Dame footballon Saturday mornings, and thenin high school, I started lookingaround at other schools, includ-ing some of the Ivy leagues andD-I programs."Then I visited here. Ire-fell

in love with the place and de-cided to come. It's been a greatexperience."And a very well-rounded expe-

rience at that."Everything [about Notre

Dame has been most memora-hie J ," McOsker said. "This schoolis great - the people, faculty, thecoaches are all great. 1 love NotreDame:'

MICHAEL YU I The unservee

Senior defensive lineman Romeo Okwara readies for a snap during tire Blue-Gold Game on April 12, 2014.Okwara started his career as a linebacker but switched to the defensive line last season.

MARY McGRAW I ThE!Observer

Irish senior safety Eamon McOsker prepares for a play during theBlue-Gold Game on April 18 at LaBar Practice Complex.

mimic," he said.Okwara also said he was glad

to he right where he is: an inte-gral part of Notre Dame's de-fensive line."I love the Dvline,' he said.

"Put me anywhere, hut I'm lov-ing the D-Iine right now."Saturday may be the last

time Romeo Okwara takes thefield at Notre Dame Stadium,but \t won't be me last time anOkwara does so. His youngerbrother Julian, a four-star de-fensive end recruit accordingto Rivals.corn, is committed toplay at Notre Dame next fall.

experienced veterans on theline, as fellow senior linemanjarron Jones went down witha torn MCL, leaving freshmanJerry Tillery and sophomoreDaniel Cage to fill the hole."It's very devastating when

any of our teammates go down,but we knew the next guy had tostep up," Okwara said on Sept.23. "We've all been that youngguy coming m, so we 'know tbatbeing there for (hem is veryimportant,"Okwara credited senior

Sheldon Day with filling theleadership role and helping thenewer players know what wasexpected of them,"Being a young guy, you see

the older guys act a certain way,and you see them succeed, andthat's something you want to

Charlotte and (offensive line-man] Mark Harrell was alsofrom Charlotte," Okwara saidSept. 23. "I had that base, andI knew some of the older guyswho were here, so I always feltvery comfortable heing here."Following a freshman year

that primarily consisted of spe-cial teams work, Okwara playedwherever he was needed onthe defense as a sophomore,ranging [rom defensive end todrop linebacker hehind JaylonSmith.His junior year was a differ-

ent story: He started 12 of 13games on the defensive line,finishing the year with 39 tack-les, two forced fumbles and ateam-high four sacks.Then as a senior, Okwara

was suddenly one of the more

into a lot of different sectors infinance."Senior year has been busy, and

school and foothall are challeng-ing - hut they're helping me getready for the next chapter of mylife."

After his senior year comes toan end, the finance major will betackling his next competition ona different field than Notre DameStadium - the joh search in thehusiness world."I'm trying to figure out my

plans for next year, hut hope-fully, 1'll he back in Los Angeles,"McOsker said. "I've been looking

Contact Kit Loughran atkloughrl@nd.edu

NICK OSSELW I S IWHEAT RIDGE. COLORADO

Ossello transitions from lacrosse to footballlacrosse to a football mindset, and I when it is all said and done.was very appreciative of that. "[I'll miss] the locker room and"Matthias Farley [also] helped justkindofwatchingeveryhodyin-

me out a lot. I knew him before teract and just making friends andcoming into this year, and he was seeing how everybody - whethervery helpful and just kind of helped . you're having a had dayorwhetherme out with the transition." you're having a good day - canAUof that hard work cuhninat- come in and know that the guys

ed into one moment for Ossello: on the team will be there to havenmning out of the tunnel against your back and be there to cheerTexas to take the field for the first you up and help you get through atime. long day or make a good day even"The first time that I ran out on better,' Ossello said. "So just being

the field againstTexas, particularly around the guys and seeing howthe tunnel, that was probably the happy, you know, just how muchmost memorable moment of my ofa hrotherhood itis really is some-life," Ossello said. "Running out of thing I'm gonna miss."that tunnel was really just an in- As he prepares for life after col-credible experience. I wish I had lege, however, Ossello said he hasthe words to describe what that several opportunities available tomeant to me and how that felt,hutf him and plans togivethemalla tryhaven't found them yet." and see how it turns out.Since then, the experience has "I'm going through the interview

heen the ride of a lifetime for him. process with a couple companiesBesides joking about getting a right now, two financial ones andchance at being the starting quar- then a group purchasing organi-terback, there isn't much that he zation,' Ossello said. "I see myselfwould change about his time with wherever/whichever job offers methe team, Ossello said. (or)whichever one makes the best"I unfortunately had a couple of offer.

minor injuries that set me hack a '1 was fortunate enough to belittle hit, hut you kind of take what drafted by some professional la-you have and work with what you crosse teams: the Denver Outlawshave," Ossello said. "It was a very for outdoor and then the Georgiahumbling experience, and I think 5 <warm ror indoor, so I'll give thatI learned a lot. Iwill he very appre- a shot, see how that goes, and thenciative of that in the coming years." hopefully I'll convin ce some poorOf all the experiences he has en- w0",lan to marry me and start a

joyed and will continue to enjoy as famlly and have a great time."the season goes on, OsseUosaid thecamaraderie with his teammates Contact Ben Padanllam atwill be what he misses the most bpadanll@nd.edu

NCAA rule that allows graduatestudents to gain a fifthyear of eligi-bility in a second sport. Having re-ceived all-state honors as a foothallplayer in high school, he decidedto pursue that dream once again.After successfully walking on tothe team, Ossello then hegan thedifficult transition from lacrosse tofootball.While the transition has certain-

ly been rewarding, it has also hadits challenges, Ossello said. Muchlike lacrosse, Ossello said the test ofgoing up against elite college ath-letes-except now it is in a sport hehas not played for four years - hasbeen one of the most difficult partsofmaking the transition."Pretty much the challenge is

just going up against incredibleathletes every day," Ossello said.'While I'm very appreciative ofthat, it does absolutely have itschallenges, both mentally andphysically. [It has heen] challeng-ing but the most rewarding experi-ence I've had in my life."Fortunately, he has heen blessed

with the guidance of both coachesand players during .the transition,Ossello said."The first coach that I hecame

fairly close with here was Coach(Todd] Lyght, and he kind of helpedme out in my transition," OsseUosaid of theIr ish secondary coach. "Iwould be asking him some dumhrookie questions, and he wouldtake the time to answer them andkind of helped me through theoriginal transition from having a

Colorado, just west of Denver.Although he' was recruited as alacrosse player, he said he had al-ways dreamed of playing footballat the college level."I had wanted to he a foothall

player my entire life, and after sign-ing here to play lacrosse, I didn'tthink that I would ever get thatopportunity," Ossello said. "Then,luckily enough, Iwas able to makethe team:'With his collegiate lacrosse ca-

reer over, Ossello learned of an

Associate Sports Editor AlexCarson contributed to this story.

By BEN PADANILAMSports Writer

Contact Renee Griffin atrgriffi6@nd.edu

Playing football at Notre Dameis a dream for a lot of high schoolstudent-athletes. For graduate stu-dent safety Nick Ossello, however,that dream became a reality thisseason.A rnidfielder for the Irish la-

crosse team the last four seasons,Ossello was a standout player inboth football and lacrosse at WheatRidge High School in Wheat Ridge,

ZACH LLORENS IThe Observer

Irish senior defensive lineman Romeo Okwara hurdles Tempw junior quarterback Po]. Walker following afumbw In Notre Dame's 24-20 will over the Owls Oil Oct. 31 at UnreinPinanciai Field in Philodelphla. Okwara leads the Irish with six sacks this season and sits second on the team in ta<:kwsfor loss, with 9.5.

EMILY McCONVILLE IThe Observer

Graduate student safety Nick Ossello, a former Irish lacrosse player,utilized an NCAA rule to walk onto the football team in his fifth year.

_ THE OBSERVER I FRIDAY, NOVEMBER IS, 20151 ND MCOBSERVER.COM

C.). PROSISE I RB I PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA

Prosise evolves into starting running backBy MARYGREENAssistant Manegtng Bducr

Editor's Note: A version of til isarticle originally appeared in tileSept. 11 edition of Tile Obseruer.

It all started with a dunk.When Irish head coach Brian

Kelly was searching through hisnext crop of recruit in the highschool class of2012, he awa featof athleticism out of WoodberryForest School in Virginia thathad him eager 10get C.J. Prosisein a Notre Dame uniform."I saw him dunking a basket-

ball at his high school, and I sawthis athlete, and I said, 'I don'tknow where he's goi.ng to play,but we've got to take him," Kellysaid Tuesday. "He's just thatgood of an athlete. Loved hispersonality. Again, his makeup,great fit from a great school.We've just got to find a place forhim to play."Little did Prosise know back

then - he admitted, in retro-spect, he can't recall Kelly seeinghim play basketball - but thatdunk would have him leavinghis home in Petersburg, Virginia,headed to Notre Dame for hisfreshman year as a safety.'three years later, Prosise re-

turns to Vi.rg,in\awith the lrish,but tms t\me. he Vol\\\ \me u'Q\n~ 'oa..t'V....~d. at!> ,-b.~\.eam~ 'f!.\.an-

ing running back.It's a chain of events Prosise

said he couldn't have predictedwhen he first came to SouthBend."You never know where you're

going to be needed, and I've al-ways just wanted to be here formy team, and I've wanted to dowhatever I can to make my teambe the best team in the country,so if that means I was at safety,linebacker. receiver, now fun-ning back, I'm just doing what-ever I can to help the team," hesaid Wednesday.His freshman year, Prosise

practiced with the safeties wear-ing a No. 34 jersey, but he didn'tsee much of the playing field as

"

the Irish made their trip to theBCS Championship Game. Tbenext year led 10 a new positionand a new number - lining upwith the receivers as No. 20 -because, Kelly said, "he wasn't abig hitter."With a steady confidence a

little quieter than that of some ofhis teammates, Prosise beggedto differ."I would say 1 slightly dis-

agree," he said with a grin. "Ifeel like I didn't get my chanceto, you know, get in there andhit a little bit on defense, but allI'm saying is, I think that I'm aphysical player, but we didn'treally get to see it that much ondefense, I guess."It's not that Prosise wasn't a

physical player as a safety, Kellysaid. In fact, the head coachsaid that asset made the se-nior's rransirion across the lineof scrimmage and then to thebackfield a bit easier."He just plays the game fast

and physical," Kelly said. "Hedoesn't think about it. So I justthink that he's not afraid ofcontact. He's somebody that,whether he's running the ballor he's catching the ball, he's al-ways played that fearless kind ofgame."Prosise said he's always had

the menta\ity that he wants touoe\p me '-ea'lU.w\.n \.n an)' wa)'possible, so he wasn't upsetwhen he was moved after hisfreshman season, but it did takesome adjusting."Moving [from defense to of-

fense] at first is kind of like, youget a little skeptical because I'mnot used to catching passes froma college quarterback, but onceyou kind of get into the grooveand get used to it," he said. " ...I don't know, I feel like I'd stillbe a good safety if I was stillback there, but that's not how itworked out, but I'm happy whereI'm at right now."As a receiver his sophomore

and junior years, he appeared inevery game, making nine starts,and recorded 36 receptions for

588 yards - 516 of those in 2014-and two touchdowns.But last spring, his coaches

told him he would be on themove again, this time to therunning backs' room under first-year coach Autry Denson.Kelly, Denson and his team-

mates praised the quicknessand dexterity with whicb Prosisemade the switch throughoutthe spring, and the new backshowed those skills off at theteam's Blue-Gold Game in April,collecting 64 yards on 12 carries,including a· team-long IS-yardrush.He continued that momen-

tum into his second public ap-pearance as a running back,but this time, it mattered a littlemore, in the Sept. 5 season open-er against Texas.With starting junior running

back Tarean Folston going downin the first quarter with a tornACL, Prosise had to step up andtake the bulk of Notre Dame'scarries. He showcased how nat-urally he seemed to have madethe transition by tallying a game-high 98 yards on 20 rushes - afigure Kelly said he can maintainthroughout the season.However, Prosise admitted

getting out of bed the next twomornings was more challengingthan usual.

.., was SOTe,but you're goingto be sore after a football game,"he said. "That's just kind of how,kind of the life I chose, but I felt,for the most part, 1 felt good. Iwas hurting a little bit, but you'vejust got to move on, get in the icetub, get treatment and get backon the field."Teammates have different

theories as to Why Prosise wasable to transition into the back-field without many visible grow-ing pains. The week before theTexas game, Polston attributed itto his nature as "a freak athlete,"while gradnate student corner-back Matthias Farley said Sept. 9it was his combination of speedand size, at 6-foot-1/2 and 220pounds.

EMMET FARNAN I The Observer

Irish senior running back C,J.Prosise hits the hole during Notre Dame's 42-30 win over Pittsburgh lastSaturooy at Heinz Field. In his first year after transitioningfrom receiver, Prosise Iws 975 rushing yards,

ZACH LLdREN51 The Observer

Prosise looks downJWld during Notre Dame's 24-20 win over Templeon Oct. 31 at Lincoln Financial Field In Philadelphia.

"He doesn't really look thatbig," Farley said. "He walksaround, he doesn't look that big,but when you see him in prac-tice, you're like, you're a largeindividual."He's really, really shifty,

which I don't think we got tosee too much of when he was atwide receiver because he runsaround, catch the ball. But nowyou get the ball in his hands ear-ly and be able to make plays andmake people miss. Obviously,he's incredibly fast."Though he was officially

named the starting runningback the week after the Texasgame, ahead of true fresh-men Josh Adams and DexterWilliams, Prosise still only hasone actual game at the positionunder his belt. He said there'sstill more room for improve-ment, and he and his head coachagreed on where that needs tocome."I think the fundamentals re-

ally of the position - stance,pocket for taking handoffs, theright steps," Kelly said. "I thinkreally - why he's been able tomove into the position that heis in is because of his physicalability, his maturity and under-standing the offense. But it'scertainly a work in progress as itrelated to the fundamentals."You're not seeing some of the

things that I'm seeing funda-mentally that need to continueto grow for him because theycould end up hurting us downthe road if we don't get better atthem, and he knows that, too.So it's tbe work that we have todo every day in practice on thefundamentals of the positlon

Contact Mary Green atmgreen8@nd.edu

DSMCOBSEIlVER.COM I FRIDAY, NOVEMBER IS, 20151 [HE DB ERVER _

KEIVARAE RUSSELL 1CB IEVERETT, WASllINGTO

I was getting some top-notchtraining back home, so I triedto get all facets of my life withwhere Iwas."Russell said he didn't simply

want to brush his "mistake" un-der the rug, opting instead topursue something meaningfulout of the experience."The mistakes Imake, Iwant

to learn about that mistake"Russell said. "I don't just want t~,'OK, let me just get past the mis-take.' A lot of people just wantto get past mistakes and, OK,they're not worried about it, andthat mistake just sits with tbemso it can happen again. For me,it was like, 'OK, made a mistake,cool. Let's see how - how can weturn this mistake into somethinggood?'"Staying aligned with his phi-

losophy on his year off, Russellsaid he doesn't sby away fromdiscussing his experience.

"I don't mind talking about thesituation - it's something I'mkind of proud of now that I gotthrough it, but I got through it ina meaningful fashion, I guess,"he said.With Russell gone and injuries

mounting up, the Irish lost allfour of those defining Novembergames a season ago - some-thing the cornerback had to dealwith 1,800 miles away."it was tough. It was really, re-

ally tough just because Tknowhow special tbat season couldhave been, too - for myself butalso playing with those guys,"Russell said."It was one of those moments

- I say it all the time, and it kindof gets repetitive, but it's true- it's tough to see because youwant 10 see them win, but youcan't. You really can't. You justhave to sit back and take on someof the guilt. If I was there, could Ihave helped? Am I part of this, allthis losing?"Russell got through it by find-

ing the light at the end of the

Russell readjusts to life at ND after suspension

Senior cornerback KeiVarae Russell scans the JWId last Saturday atPittsburgh in Notre Dame's 42-30 win ouer the Panthers,

ByALEXCARSONAssociate Sports Editor

Editor's Note: A version of thisarticle originally appeared ill theNov. 6 edition of The Observer.

A year ago, Notre Dame was7-1, in the midst of the play-off discussion, with a series ofNovember games ahead thatwould define its season.While the Irish find themselves

in effectively the same situationthis year, KeiVarae Russell, whospent last season suspended fol-lowing an Honor Code violation,doesn't."I broke down. It was tough,"

the senior cornerback saidabout the moment he learned hewouldn't play last year. "It wasreally tough for me to find outthat I wasn't going to play an en-tire season last year."But of the so-called "Frozen

Five," Russell is the only one backin South Bend.What did the Everett,

Washington, native do during hisseason off? Quite a bit, actually."For me, I didn't just want to go

train somewhere," Russell said."That's just worrying about onemind, just football. For me, I justtook advantage of this opportu-nityaway.

" ... J went to school, I wasworking in real estate - I'mmanagement now but I wasbusiness marketing at the time- and I never had a job, so I kindof wanted 10 take advantage ofthat void in my life that I neverhad a job to take on a job. Andnot just any job, really learningabout how markets operate, howmarkets work and real estate it-self, I wanted 10 learn about thatand how business works becauseI want to go into the field someday."But I also wanted to take

classes to continue toward mydegree, so I knocked out all myelectives while I was there, and

CAROLINE GENCO IThe Observer

Irish senior cornerback KeiVarae Russell tackles a Navy ballcarrier during Notre Dame's 41-24 win overthe Midshipmen on Oct. 10, Russell has two fourth-quarter interceptions in the last tbree games.

tunnel. 3-4 scheme was the law of the taught me.""It's one of those things where land. With Brian VanGorder now And after his last three out-

you've just got to mellow your- in charge of the defensive corps ings, it's hard to argue he hasn'tself down," he said. "It's tough to with a wildly different scheme, figured something out.see, but everything was going to Russell had to adjust, Against Navy, Russell led theeventually get better." ''To come from tbe system I Irish in solo tackles with seven,For Russell, he saw a taste of had, the Coach Diaco system stifling the Midshipmen's triple-

success from day one at Notre where it's kind of 'bend, don't option attack.Dame. When he came in as a break,' right, and I was going A week later, he interceptedfreshman in 2012, he quick- into the system last year, and USC senior quarterback Codyly earned a starting spot at then I missed that year," RusseU Kessler in the fourth quarter tonicke\back. sai.d.<1\ kind of.cam.e '-n.t.oa.cacce he4't p'[ef.e,[,l1~an \'{'-Soh\ean and."1was going to be starting at aggressive sysrem, and it's like then tipped a pass junior safety

nickel, so I kind of solidified a you 're throwing someone new Max Redfield intercepted to ef-starting position," Russell said. into a new pool, righl? So I kinda feclively secure the rivalry win."You know, as a 'true freshman had to get that adjustment. I had In a more pressing situationyou want to start, you want to a year off, had a new system, new last Saturday, Russell intercept-play." techniques - I hadn't played ed Temple junior quarterbackBut then Russell got his break man coverage - a new coach. P.). Walker in the closing min-

with what he calls an "unfor- So there's so many factors that utes to ensure the Irish escapedtunatc, fortunate event," when came with it." with a third consecutive win.starting cornerback Lo Wood A month ago, Irish head coach This week he'll be matched upwent down with a season-end- Brian Kelly said while Russell with Pittsburgh junior receivering Achilles injury in August. It was putting in the effort, it Tyler Boyd, one of the country'smeant Russell would be playing wasn't yet clicking on Saturdays. most dynamic playmakers. It'smore than just the handful of "Keivarae works so hard in a battle Russell said he's lookingnickel packages that would've practice:' Kelly said Oct. 6. "We forward 10.featured him. just need to see that translate "It's going to be fun .... I'm re-"La Wood went down, and itself into games. It hasn't got ally excited for that challenge,

then the next day, I see the depth there yet. We think maybe the playing against a good player,"chart, and I see myself with the year off has been a bit of a tran- Russell said. "But I have to real-ones," Russell said. "I knew I sition for him, but he works so ize, he's playing against a goodworked hard enough to get there, hard in practice. The want to player, too. He's not just gonnabut it was still a surreal feeling, and the desire is there." be able to run by me, he's notright, to be a true freshman at Russell said he may have un- just gonna be able to out physl-the University of Notre Dame. derestimated what it would take cal me, out jump me, stuff likeEspecially since I switched over to adjust - and he found a flaw that. So I'm pretty sure he's da-ta cornerback three weeks be- in his preparation. ing his study just like I'm do-fore the first game." "Even I, myself, I kind of over- ing my study. I think that's theRussell's strong play dur- looked all those factors, right, excitement.

ing his freshman year earned so I think that's what it was," he " ... He can't come with hishim national recognition - said. "So I just had 10 sit back, B-game, that's not going to work.he was named a freshman really, and go 'OK, how do I get I can'tcorne with myB-game, it'sAll-American by the Football back? Season's long, right, and not going to work against him. IWriters' Association of America you're a great athlete, we already think that's the exciting part -_ and the Irish a trip to the BCS know that, so how do I allow we both come with our A-game.National Cbampionship Game, your traits 10 just go out there Whoevercomesw;thhisA-gamewheretheylost42-14toAiabama. and play?' I started realizing in is going to win the matchup.""You have a different kind of my preparation, just really be- But despite his recent success,

fire because you lost it, you un- ing in good positions at all times Russell said he is confident in aderstand that extra edge you when I'm in practice. Not just, more-improved future.need to go," he said of the expe- 'Okay, the ball's not coming my "It's going to keep getting bet-rience. "I think that's the thing I way, I don't have to be in good ter," be said. "It's going to gettake with me." position.' So now, you watch better this week, the next week,Now he's back, andstartingin a film, even if the ball's the other the week after that - and hope-

secondary that looks a lot differ- way,l'm still acting like the ball's fully 10 the playoff."ent than the one he last played in on my side. I'm finishing theat Notre Dame, when former de- plays off, and that's what [de-fensive coordinator Bob Diaco's fensive backs coach Todd Lyghtl

Contact Alex Carson atacarsonl@nd.edu

_ THEOBSERVERIFRIDAY,NOVEMBIlR13, 2015 INO MCOBSERVER.COM

JOE SCHMIDT ILB IORANGE, CALIFORNIA

•Schmidt rises from walk-on to captatnI still do today. I was so goal-oriented and focused to be acontributing member of this

Weare in love with Cinderella football team."stories. Rags to riches, immi- Schmidt got his chancegrant to senator and, in the case the next year and started inof Irish linebacker Joe Schmidt, eight games before sufferingfreshman walk-on to captain a season-ending ankle injuryfor his dream school. against Navy."I honestly don't think there Now in his fifth and final

can be a more dramatic tran- year, Schmidt has been re-sition," Schmidt said. "When I warded for all his hard work bygot Ito Notre Darnel it was fun- being selected as one of the fiveny because I was on the very, team captains.very bottom of the totem pole "I do a double-take everyand now being a captain on time I see the 'C' on game day,"the team, a fifth-year guy who's Schmidt said. "It's just surrealplaying, it's very strange." to see pictures with that 'C' onWhile it may seem strange my cbest. It's such an bonor

to Scbmidt, it makes perfect for me to bave my teammatessense to every Notre Dame fan. think ofme that way. EspeciallyScbmidt came to Notre Dame on a team that bas as manyas a preferred walk-on despite leaders as we have. To be a rep-scbolarsbip offers from otber resentative of this team, 'Teamscbools and spent his fresb- 127,' it's something that's veryman year on tbe scout team. special to me. I don't have a lotIn bis sopbomore and junior of words for it."seasons, be cemented his role Humbled by his teammates'for tbe Irisb as a special teams support, Schmidt takes his cap-contributor recording 21 tack- taincy seriously, and be said beles and even saw tbe field in tbe went so far as to do researcb onBCS Championship Game. people be felt bave a bandle onTbough he didn't take the leadersbip.

field every game early in his "I've done a ton ofresearcb oncareer, Schmidt said his goal- leadership," Schmidt said. "I'veoriented approach helped him read a bunch about differentwork his way into a starting leaders that lthought had somerote. part ofthe precess figuredout.

"'Nnen '- '@oOt.b.e~e, '- cseexee, \ I:ead \Wa.l:I:en:, BuUet, 1 reada Jist of goals that I wanted to Bruce Lee, [John} Wooden. Ihave for myself," Schmidt said. read stuff about them, their"When I was five, my dad had own work. I just wanted to seeme start making goals. ... I bow they saw tbe world."evolved tbat process over my Though tbey may not be aslife. On the wall in my room famous, Schmidt also said heright now, I have overarch ing learned a great deal from hisgoals, but then I have smaller' teammates over the years.goals I work on each and every "I think in order to be a goodday to attain those big goal. leader, you have to be a goodThat's something \ worked on follower first," Schmidt said.as a freshman and sophomore, "I just tried to follow and un-even junior, and it's something derstand guys like (linebacker]

ByMAREKMAZUREKSports Writer

WEI LIN IThe Observer

Irish graduate student linebacker joe Schmidt celebrates after NotreDame's 14-10 will over USC at Notre Dame Stadium. Oil Oct. 19, 2013.

EMMET FARNAN I The Observer

AVERYSEBASTUNICBIMCDONOUGH,GEORGIA

DSMCOBSERVER.COMIFRIDAY, OVEMBIlR13, 20151 THEOBSERVER _

Sebastian sidelined early after transferObserver Staff Report

Graduate student safetyAvery Sebastian's path toNotre Dame stadium wasn't atraditionalone.The McDonough, Georgia,

native spent four seasonswith the Golden Bears beforemoving to South Bend for thisseason, taking advantage ofthe NCAA rule that allowsgraduate students to move toanother program without sit-ting out a season if pursuinga degree not offered at theirfirst institution.Sebastian was reunited

with junior defensive line-man Isaac Rochell, whohe played with at Eagle'sLanding Christian Academyin 2010, this year at NotreDame after graduating fromCalifornia with a degree insociology in December 20\4.While at Cal, he hada mixed

bag of results - he played as

a freshman and emerged in2012 as a sophomore, start-ing four games in additiongetting on the field as part ofthe special-teams unit.Going into his junior year,

Sebastian was slated as theGolden Bears' strong safe-ty, and started the seasonbrightly, recording 10 tack-les and an interception inthe season opener againstNorthwestern. However,Sebastian suffered a season-ending injury in the secondgame, giving him the year ofeligibility that allowed himto arrive in South Bend.After starting the season

as a backup safety for NotreDame, Sebastian has beensidelined since the season-opening, 38-3 win over Texason Sept. 5. It is possible, how-ever, he returns to the fieldfor Notre Dame before theseason is out after Irish headcoach Brian Kelly announced

Tuesday he was cleared to re-turn to practice.Despite being cleared,ebastian may not play theremainder of the season -with the Irish set to lose grad-uate student Matthias Farleyand senior Elijah Shumateat the position, Kelly saidSebastian could sit out thenext three games, plus post-season play, so he could po-tentially return to the Irishas a sixth-year player nextseason."Well, we're going to get

him going," Kelly said. "If weneed to play him, because weneed to win games, we're go-ing to play him. But I'm notgoing to run him down onthe kickoff team, you know.We would preserve his yearunless he needs to go in thereand start for us and help uswin these last three games."Sebastian was unavailable

for an interview.

CHRIS COLLINS 1The Observer

Graduate student safety AveI)' Sebastian, right, pursues a Texas playerduring Notre Dame's 38-3 win over the Longhorns on Sept. 5.

JOHN TURNER I S I INDIANAPOLIS

Turner fulfills ambitions at Notre DameByELIZABETHGREASONSports Writer

Indianapolis native JohnTurner was not the mostheavily recruited playercoming out of high school.However, since first arrivingon campus his freshman yearand first stepping foot on thefield of Notre Dame Stadiumduring his sophomore year,Turner has made his presencefelt, both as a member of theteam and as a student of theUniversity.Many students across the

country arrive at schoolwith grandiose or overambi-tious visions for themselves.Turner, however, said hestarted at Notre Dame feelingquite the opposite."I just wanted to play foot-

ball," Turner said. "I didn'thave too many expectationsfor myself coming in. \ justwanted to contribute to theteam, and for the most part,I think I've lived up to that."

Turner, a safety, has madean impact on the footballfield throughout his career atNotre Dame and has met hisgoal of contributing to theteam. After redshirting hisfreshman year, he receivedplaying time ill each game theIrish played during his soph-omore and junior years, withfour tackles in each season.Despite having taken the

field for the Irish on a widevariety of occasions, Turnersaid he considers the highpoint of his Notre Dame foot-ball career to be tbe springgame going into his junioryear."That was definitely my

highlight," Turner said. "Ihad six tackles in that springgame and a half tackle for aloss. That was a really fungame."For Turner, the decision to

attend Notre Dame was aneasy one. While the footballprogram played a major rolein the decision, he said that

Senior safety John Thmer prepares for a snap durilJg the Blue-GoldGame Oil April 12,2014 at Notre Dame stadium.

different characters in theirown sense. They're all reallygood people:'Wbile the senior is on track

to receive his degree in thespring, he still has anotheryear of football eligibility.While he is, as of yet, unsureof how exactly he will to pro-ceed after graduation, Turnersaid he there will be footballin his future."I have another year of eli-

gibility," Turner said. "I haveto figure out what I want todo. But I definitely want toplay another year of football."While Turner's plans for

next year are still uncertain,his goal for the coming weeksare nOI, he said."We want to take it week by

week, game by game," Turnersaid. "Hopefully we can winout and go to the CollegeFootball Playoff:'

gives us a lot of surroundingsupport to help us balanceacademics and the foot-ball commitments we have,"Turner said. "I give a lot ofcredit to our academic staff:'While much of his time is

dedicated to football, Turnersaid he understands the valueof his Notre Dame education."My greatest motivating

factor has been envisioningmyself walking across thestage at graduation." Turnersaid.

When he is not playingfootball or studying, Turner istypically spending time withhis teammates, and he em-phasized the important rolethe team camaraderie hasplayed in his four years here."I love gelling to know all

the players and getting thechance to establish somereally great connectionswith them," Turner said."Everyone is from somewheredifferent, and they're all

Irish senior safety john Thmer, left, tackles a Purdue ballcarrier during Notre Dame's 31-24 win over theBoilermakers on Sept. 14,2013 at Ross-Au Stadium in West Lofayette, Indiana.

Cnntact Elizabeth Greason ategreason@nd.edu

Irish graduate student linebacker and captaln Ioe Schmidt pursues Pittsburgh redshirt juniorquarterback Nate Peterman during Notre Dame's 42-30 will at Heinz Field last Saturday.

Dan Fox or [safety] Harrison the player Schmidt pointed to about what the future holdsSmith when I first got here, or as the key to the defense. yet.[defensive lineman] Kapron "{Smith] is one of the most "I'm going to assess what lifeLewis-Moore. I looked at those physically gifted human beings after Notre Dame is going toguys and saw what they did and I've ever met," Schmidt said. be like," Schmidt said. "Rightlooked at our coaches and what "Combine that with the work now it would be unfair to thinkleadership practices I could use ethic that he has. Honestly, it's about anything other than thison my own. I really just tried to such privilege to play next to football season. I'll address thebe the best follower I could be a guy like that. He's so skilled NFL and everything else after."and learn as much as I could at in so many way, and he's a Though his future is uncer-the time." good friend of mine. He sees rain, Schmidt said he plans toThe biggest thing Schmidt the game the same way I do. remember his time at Notre

learned? Be true to yourself. ... Jaylon and I, I think we feed Dame as the best part of hisAnd be loud. off each other, and we have a life."I've become more vocal, I've great working relationship, and "My junior year, we played

become more assertive later that's something that I've really USC at home, and I made a bigin my career," Schmidt said. "I valued over the last two years." play at the end of the game todon't think leading by example The Irish are currently help us win," Schmidt said.is a thing. Unless you're doing ranked No. 4 by the College "And then I spent the time aftersomething as a leader, you're Foothall Playoff committee, that with my friends and farn-not leading anyone, no one's and though the pressure is Ily. I didn't go out, I went home.just going to follow to follow. ... high, Schmidt said this year's Growing up, my dad would al-I don't act any differently than I team can go all the way. ways tell me, 'Remember thedid when I was a freshman, I'm "We're fortunate to be in the good days, cause there's a lotstill the same kid." position at this point where more bad than good, and youOn the field, Schmidt ranks we're still in the conversation, have to remember the good

third on the team with 47 to- and really the goal is to be in when there's bad days:tal tackles, but he said enjoys the conversation at the end "I remember laying in mythe mental aspect of the game of the year," Schmidt said. "I bed, it's vivid, everythingmore than racking up statistics. think this is the most talented had gone right ... and there"I think my favorite part of football team I've ever heen on, was a little green light on my

playing linebacker and my fa- just in terms of straight top- wall, and it was kind of dane-verite part of being the [mid- to-bottom talent. \ think that ing around, and I rememberdie! linebacker is the defense, that's something that needs to looking at that green light andto me, feels like an extension of be fostered and cultivated. We thinking to myself, I don't evermy mind," Schmidt said. "I love need to work hard, practice want to forget the way this feelsthe chess game I'm allowed to hard and prepare the right way right now:'be a part of. I love the fact it's and hopefully put ourselves in And while Schmidt's timemy responsibility the machine a position." at Notre Dame is comingis working properly and effi- And as an elder statesman on to a close, his legacy is justciently as possihle .... I always the team, Schmidt said cham- beginning.wanted to learn the mental pionship games are difficult to "I think I would want peopleside [of the game']. It payed off win having played in one him- to firstsayIwas a good person,'dividends and helped make me self in 2012. Schmidt said. "I think often-a better football player, a way "That was a tough game," times people lose sight of thatbetter football player because Schmidt said. "Being [in a fact that we're all just membersI'm playing against some of championship game] helps of this University and footballthe best guys in the nation. ... me understand where eware team. J would hope that peopleThe most fun is that leadership 110W in the season and how bwe remern er me for doing good indriving the defense." need to continue to work. I've the community and for being aOf course, Schmidt said he seen so many teams l' t thi ds rp a IS goo teammate, a good leader.

still loves making the big hits, point, and it's so easy. We need "And Ialso hope they remem-too. to focus all of our attention on ber me as someone who had a"Obviously 1love hitting peo- what's impottant right now." dream and went after it with all

ple," Schmidt said with a grin. Schmidt holds a degree in he could:'"I love tackling people." management-entrepreneur-Ahead of Schmidt in tackles is ship from Notre Dame, but he

junior linebacker jaylon Smith, said he doesn't want to thinkContact Marek Mazurek atmmazurek@nd.edu

ultimately, what truly drewhim to Notre Dame was thefact he would get a top-notcheducation while simultane-ously achieving his dream ofplaying football."J came here, first and fore-

most, for the education,"Turner said. "I knew I want-ed to major in the businessschool, and we've got the No.1 undergraduate businessschool, so [ was set from theget-go. And of course, to playat Notre Dame, there was noquestion about it. Going toNotre Dame was definitelywhat I wanted to do."As a marketing major in the

Mendoza College of Business,Turner said it has not alwaysbeen easy balancing life asa student-athlete. He attrib-uted his and his teammates'abilities to be successfulin all aspects of life at theUniversity to Notre Dame'sacademic staff."It's tough, but the school

_ TH EOBSERVERI fRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 20151 NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

ELIJAH SHUMATE I S IEASTORANGE, NEWJliRSEY

Shumate sky-rockets to new heightsByZACHKLONSI SKISports Editor

Editor's Note: A version ojthisarticle originally appeared in theOCI.30 edition of The Observer.

It's not often Irish head coachBrian Kelly uses the word "sky-rocketing" 10 describe one of hisplayers.But that's exactly what Kelly

said when asked about the im-provement shown this year bysenior safely Elijah Shumate."Wish I had him for another

couple years," Kelly said. "He'sreally coming into his own."

In nine games this season,Shumate has made 36 tackles,sixth on the team and third inthe Notre Dame secondary. His28 solo tackles are the third mostby an Irish defensive player thisseason. He's dropped an oppo-nent behind the line of scrim-mage four times, the most of anyIrish defensive back.Shumate also effectively sealed

the Irish win against Navy withhis fourth-quarter interception."There's just an overwhelm-

ing confidence in what he's do-ing. He's not second-guessingthings:' graduate student safetyMatthias Farley said of his team-mate. "He's not looKing to see ifsomeone else \s ~oin% to makea. c::bIu::k.. Be. v..nD'N ....'\HUa'L h.e. has(0 do and what he's supposed todo and how everyone else is sup-posed to fit, so that confidenceand the understanding of thesystem has allowed him to playalot Fasterfor us."Each and every Saturday

he's been very, very consistentthroughout the season."This hasn't always been the

case since Shumate arrived oncampus, however. The four-starprospect signed with the Irish asthe eighth-best safety in the classof 2012, according to Rivals.com,and Shumate admits the pres-sure of being such a highly-ratedrecruit added extra pressure toperform on the field."[I was] just not being myself.

Just thinking about a lot of thingsand not just gelling back to play-ing football, playing footballlike I've been doing since I wasyoung," Shumate said. "I wasalways just wanting to do thisand do that. With the high ex-pectations coming into college,it made everything a lot harder."The East Orange, New Jersey,

native appeared in all 13 gamesduring Notre Dame's 2012 run tothe BCSNational Championshipgame. Shumate saw the fieldmainly on special teams, but healso appeared as the nickel back,making nine tackJes and break-ing up three passes Forthe Irish.During his sophomore cam-paign in 2013, Shumate startedfour games and played in nineover the course of a season wherehe missed time with an injury,although he still managed to tal-ly 23 tackJes.So when Austin Collinsworth

went down with a shouider

Irish senior safety Elijah Shumate leads Notre Dame onto thefield before its season-opening, 38-3 win over Texas on Sept. 5. Shumate has aileinterception this year, against Navy 011.Oct. 10, and 36 tackles - his season Idgh was against Virginia OIl Sept. 12when he recorded 10.

injury last season, Shumate al-ready had a fair amount of expe-rience when he became the defacto starter 48 hours before theseason-opening kickoff againstRice.A'-,-hou'@.uSbutna\.e finished-

with 66 tackles wllile playing inaU 13 games, he was inconsistentat times, Kellysaid."He was working so hard at his

craft," Kelly said. "And he wasstruggling, and it was wearingon him."Kelly said this season he has

seen the breakthrough he wasalways expecting."Some guys, it just takes lon-

ger to get to that point," Kellysaid. "He's still cooking - he justwasn't done yet. He's just oneof those guys that is ascendingfor us. It's really nice to see. He'ssuch a great kid, ca res so much."To see him start to break

through, it's one of the gratify-ing things as a coach: That youget to see a player break throughthat wall. He's just been bangingat that wall, and you can see thatit's coming down for him."Farley said it was never a mat-

ter of motivation for Shumate."He was hungry," Farley said.

"He wanted to learn, he want-ed to play. He played nickelhis freshman year and againstMichigan State he made a couplereally, really nice plays."It wasn't a matter of athletic

ability, either."He'sbeen a freak athlete since

birth, I would assume," Farleysaid with a laugh.Where Shumate said he has

seen himself grow is going theextra mile to fine tune his athlet-ic ability and compliment it withan increased understanding ofthe system the Irish want to rununder first-year defensive backscoach Todd Lyght."I guess my focus towards the

game and my understanding

[have really developed],"Shumate said. "Just basically metrying to better myself every dayin whatever T could do, whetherit's watching extra film and goingout to practice and working onsom.et.\ung \ike ball drills, jugs,foorwork. Things like that. Jusrbettering myself every day."Shumate said Lyght's ap-

proach to the game has also beena large part of finding himself onthe gridiron."Coach Lyght has helped me

tremendously," Shumate said."He's been a big help, a big men-tor towards the game to me be-cause he just allows us to go outthere and have fun. You knowwhen you've got Coach Lyghthere, you know when you get tothe sideline he might chew youout, but you know you can go outthere and if you're going hard,aggressive, that Coach Lyght isOK with that. He understandsthat players are going to makemistakes, and you've just got tolearn from them."I think he's a player's coach,

and he can really relate to us in alot of different ways."Lyghthas also helped Shumate

regain a sense of fun playingfootball he lost somewhere overthe last three years, Shumatesaid."Now that we have Coach

Lyght and [defensive gradu-ate assistant Maurice Crum,Jr.l, they make the game a lotmore fun," Shumate said. "[I'm]not saying that the [previous]coaches didn't make it Fun, but [always felt like I had a burden onmy back."Now I feel like I can just play.

I can just have fun, just go outthere and just work hard andhave fun and make plays.... Iget excited about it because Ifeel like this is a year where wejust have fun and play the gamethat we love.When you're having

fun out there and you're doingwell and making plays, it makesit a lot more fun. So I like to keepeverybody laughing and jokingthroughout the practices."Farley said he has seen this

tnansttlon first-rrand thls season."He's been up and done, as we

know a lot of us have, but in thisnew system he's really found ahome and really understandsit," Farley said. "And he's enjoy-ing it and not thinking so muchbecause of that understanding."This understanding has also

manifested itself outside ofShumate's individual play,Farleysaid."He just comes to work every

day.He leads byexample, Ithink,in a lot of ways, but he also willsee things that other guys aredoing or correct something thatsomeone else does mid-play ormake something right that some-body else messed up, so I thinkguys see that and they're like,'Alright, Elijah's on his stuff,"Farley said. "And so people willgo to him and ask questions. Inthe past, he wouJd ask someoneelse the question, now he's beingthat guy that people look to andgo to to ask questions."Shumate said he doesn't see

himself as a vocal leader."I just try to be myself. I'm an

aggressive guy:' Shumate said. "Ilike to come up and l)ike to makenoise. Hike to hit. So I just try touse that to myadvantage."I've never been a guy to just

be vocal and get in people's facesand stuff like that. I use a dif-ferent [approach] in trying tobecome a leader on the defenseand just try to lead by examplewith my play. Just trying to goout there every day, work hard,and everyone sees me work hardso everybody's just like, 'Alright,well now I just want to workhard."Shumate said he didn't have to

look far for inspiration for hardwork - both now and back whenhe first arrived on campus.As a freshman, Shumate said

he gravitated to then-graduatestudent safety Jamoris Slaughter."He was a leader, and 1always

wanted to just be that figurewhere once I step on the field, ev-erybody was just looking up like,'That was that guy,'" Shumatesaid. "But Jamoris just had thatpresence .... that when he was onthe field that it was the JamorisShow, and Iamoris had the sec-ondary and it was just going tobe lights out. Iamoris was goingto make plays and be physical,and he was going to play hard."For the last couple years, he

said he's been able to watch howhard junior linebacker IaylonSmith works in all aspects of thegame."Jfeel like he works really hard

so everybody leaves and seeshim working hard," Shumatesaid. "And he's out there makingplays every week, so they think,'Maybe if we worked as hard ashim, we're going to be makingplays like him."Shumate also said he has an

end goal for all that hard work."My goal is just to keep en-

hancing everything. Just keepenhancing everything as a foot-ball player," Shumate said. "Justbecoming - taking to that roleof being a leader. No questions,no 'jf' factors, no inconsisten-cy. Just being consistent everyweek, every day at practice justgiving his all; every game givehis all and just be that guy thateveryone can look to. If Jayionturns around, he's like 'I knowShumate got me.' [If senior de-fensive back] KeiVarae [Russell]turns around, he's like 'He's gotme."

Contact Zach Klonsinski atzklonsln@nd.edu

_______________________ ~N.:D~S~M~C::O~B~·E~R~V~E~·R~.~O~M~If~RID.u, NOVEMBER13,ZOISITIIEOBSERVER _

BUNTER seum I HILS IRALEIGH,NORTHCAROU A

Smith juggles school and footballByBRENNAMOXLEYSportS Writer

Prior to making the deci-sion to attend Notre Dame,senior holder and longsnapper Hunter Smith saidfootball wasn't the highestpriority during his collegesearch. He was more con-cerned with looking at topacademic institutions likeDuke and Virginia, schoolscloser to home in Raleigh,North Carolina.Smith said it was his high

school offensive line coachwho finally convinced him.The coach asked Smith ifhe wanted to play footballin college, and he thought,'Why not?' so he sent a high-light tape to all of the schoolshe applied to. He receivedinterest hack from MIT,North Carolina, Virginia andCarnegie Mellon, who all of-fered him a walk-on spot.Smith decided to attend to

Notre Dame as a non-ath-lete, though, because he saidhe saw himself fitting in atNotre Dame, whether it wasas a regular student or as astudent-athlete.He wasn't on the team as a

freshman, so Smith said hewas able to watch the BCSChampionship Game as a fanand also experience the nor-mal college social life for abit before ea rning a spot onthe squad entering his soph-omore year.Smith said it was a big step

up in intensity for him inmoving from his high schoolprogram to a prestigiouscollege football one. He didnot see the field that seasonbut played in eight of the 13games last season as a ju-nior, including successfullyholding for three extra-point

attempts and two Field goalsagainst Florida State.Smith said balancing being

on the football team whilealso majoring in chemicaland bio-molecular engineer-ing has been a challenge,but that the experience has,among other things, helpedhim drastically improve histime-management skills."I'm still working on it,"

Smith said jokingly. "{l leave]the [Guglielmino AthleticsComplex] and go straightto the library almost everynight."Smith said one of his most

distinct memories as partof the Notre Dame footballprogram is the game againstFlorida State last season."That was an unreal game,"

he said. "Playing in that en-vironment with some of mybest friends under the pres-sure of two top-10 teams,national television and play-ing under the lights - it wasunreal."As for his plans after grad-

uation, Smith said he plansto apply to medical school."I'm looking forward to

hopefully becoming a doctor;I'm thinking a pediatrician,"he said. "I love working withkids."Smith added he enjoys the

idea of the doctor-patientrelationship in pediatricmedicine but that he is alsoconsidering being a cardiolo-gist or allergy immunologist,although a career as an or-thopedic surgeon isn't out ofthe question either becausehe could connect with thesports side of medicine.Smith said special teams

players spend a lot of time to-gether and get along well dueto their strong work ethic andability to understand each

. S Ith practices a hold beforeSenior holder and long snapper Hunter mNotre Dame's 30-22 win over Georgia Teeh on Sept. 19,

other. He and Fellow seniorand long snapper Scott Dalyare roommates, and Smithsaid he's also close with ju-nior kicker John Chereson."We've been together

For a long time, and I havean amazing time with[Cheresonl," Smith said."He's a goof-ball and just apretty funny guy."Smith mentioned former

teammates Jude Rhodes andKyle Brindza for menta ringhim during their time withthe team. Smith said Rhodes,who was also a walk-on,looked out for him during hisfirst semester.He said his time at Notre

Dame will stay with him Forthe rest of his life, and hecredits the school as havinga huge influence over his life."It's been an amazing

three-and-a-half, four years,"Smith said. "I think it hasdefin itely helped form me asa person and shaped me intothe man I am. I have learnedthat the good and the bad allcome together and it's notall going to be perfect andgo great all the time, but it'sbeen an amazing experience."I have a ton of great

memories and a lot of amaz-ing friends that will last alifetime."

Contact Brenna Moxley atbmoxleyOI@salntmarys.edu

ERIN RICE IThe Observer

Senior holder and long snapper Hunter Smith walks on the field priorto Notre Dames 41 -30 loss at Michigan on Sept. 7, 2013.

.. THEOBSERVER1FRIDAY,NOVEMBER13,20151 NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

RECRUITING

Irish staff welcomes two official visitorsBy ALEX CARSONA!io...octate Sports Editor

Irish head coach Brian Kellyand his staff made a boldstatement the eve before NotreDame's game with Pittsburgha week ago, bringing fivecoaches to watch four-starsafety Damar Hamlin whilein town - a rarity, accord-ing to Irish recruiting analystAndrew Ivins

"I've been covering recruit-ing for a couple of years, andI've been to a lot of differenthigh schools and I've neverseen five coaches and a headcoach in the same place,"Ivins, who covers Notre Damerecruiting for Rivals.corn'sBlue and Gold Illustrated,said. "I think Notre Damewanted to make a statementwhile they were in the area,show Damar he was a priorityand they did just that."

Ivins said Hamlin, a se-nior at Pittsburgh's CentralCatholic High School, mightreturn to Notre Dame's cam-pus to make an unofficial visit- he made his official visit forthe USC game in October.

Hamlin has many optionsin play, one of which is staying

in his hometown and playingfor Pitt - but Ivins said NotreDame's win a week ago likelyhad little impact on the four-star safety's choice."It depends on what each

school is selling," Ivins said."Right now, Pat Narduzzi, the[head] coach at Pitt, he's atleast selling to keep the localtalent home and he can pointat the guys on the field for Pittand be like, 'We're a coupleguys away.'"

This season has seen NotreDame turn to freshmen atkey moments - runningback Josh Adams ran for 147yards against Pitt, while de-fensive lineman Jerry Tilleryhas made two starts and beenon the field regularly - andKelly said Notre Dame givesits freshmen a chance to play.

"I would say that we createdan environment where whenwe're recruiting a young man,we're really encouraging himto come here and we give themtruiy an opportunity to com-pete as a freshman," the Irishhead coach said.

Against Pitt, junior receiv-er Torii Hunter Jr. picked upsnaps on the defensive side ofthe ball and Kelly said Notre

Dame's coaches typicallymake a decision on "two-way"athletes once they get on cam-pus, like Tillery, who came inconsidered an offensive, notdefensive, lineman.

"Within our general ap-proach to recruiting, we havecategories," Kelly said. "Wehave big skill players and wehave skilled players and wehave power players. So withinthat general category, we'lllook at that skilled player andsay, look, he's a guy that canplay on either side of the ball.Then we'll figure it out whenthey get here."

The final home game ofthe year against Wake Forestmeans Notre Dame has onelast chance to impress recruitson game day this campaign,but Ivins said it is not a hugerecruiting weekend, with onlytwo official visitors on cam-pus, both four-star Californianatives in the class of 2016:defensive end Wale Betiku andreceiver Damian Alloway.

"Notre Dame seemed to re-ally stack up the start of theyear with Texas and USC,"Ivins said. " ... At this stage ofthe game most of the guys theywanted to get in for official

visits during the season havealready been."

Ivins said a factor in the lownumbers on campus is thestandard November weatherin South Bend.

"I think Notre Dame's al-ways very cautious of what theweather situation's going tobe like if you're bringing in akid from Florida or SouthernCalifornia," Ivins said. "I don'tthink it's going to be too coldthis weekend, hut that's whythey didn't stack up this withofficial visitors."

While there aren't a highvolume of official visitors,Ivins said he expects a fairnumber of players in the classof 2017 to be on campus forunofficial visits.

Moving to the next class out,this year has marked the earli-est the Irish staff has pursuedjuniors, Ivins said, with NotreDame recruiting kids on an"accelerated" process, accord-ing to Kelly. The Irish headcoach said recent personnelturnover has brought a newapproach to how Notre Dametargets recruits.

"We restructured our re-cruiting office about 15months ago, and in that

restructu ring we had somepersonnel changes," Kellysaid. "I think those chang-es now over the last eightmonths, I think, have reallytaken hold and have allowedus to really gain the traction."

Kelly said while satellitecamps are hecoming morepopular, the Irish staff is stillputting most of its efforts into"on the road" recruiting.

"I think we're all pretty clearthat the satellite camps are ahot button topic right now,"Kelly said. "It's legislationthat's pending that will be abig topic of conversation. Sowe're not - we're not relyingstrictly on satellite camps asmuch as we're out on the road,we're across the country re-cruiting with an eye towards ifwe can get to a satellite campthat's sanctioned, we'll hethere."

For more 011 Notre Damerecruiting, check outtuuesndcota.com.Email A ndreui Owells at

aouiensesblueandgold.com andtell him The Observer sent you.

Contact Alex Carson atacarsonl@nd.edu

PAlO ADVERTISEMENT

Football Weekends NFL Mondayst II I

II 2 Large 2-Topping Pizza's T 50% off Large and :II I

I and 2-Liter Pepsi Product:: Extra Large Pizza's :I II I

I For only $22.00 :: Monday :I Thursday-Sunday Online Only :: Online Only :

\

Use Promo Code: ~ II Online code: GIVEME50~ I

FOOTBALL22 t!IMIII:: ~ :Off« good for' irilllllintt ~og !'tIa JcIIliIIlSRml omy. MIiOllli Ioi!ings. t llIIfergood fir I iaJilad tim,t ~og!'tla.kJlrn'1 reslliJrJRIiomy. MilOIlli Ioi!iogsexlri.t

I ll1i\oIliIIMly 8111, dI!gIls IllY~. CDsl.uponsibie for ~ tj1pIH:al~_ I I Um!ld dliY!ry aJIl, • may tj1pIy. Cusillmarrssponsibie for ~ _ iiteS. t~ •• __ • •• __ .~ ._. .A

Tailgate Special Student SpecialI

! Two Large,",,,,,:, ..,·,1 1-Topping Pizza's

I For only: $18.99 $9.99:! 6 Online Code: SVM7 A I

10ff«good.for a imitld~ at ~n9!'t1a.l1sl\ rlIIIms o~.AdriIiolIaI='. IIIfef good for a iaJilad linIal ~og!'tla .ijm', rlStliIr1Iil only. ~ Io~S el1Il.:I_.~~~~u;:r_~~~~~.~~~~~__~~~~~lII'faWiCitl1oOlllrssponsibieklid~t3bIe . s.__ ._-- ..- _ _-_ ..

Two 8-lnch 1-ToppingPizza's & Breadsticks

For only

0f1'1llIM. PIZZA...,) II DR.. ,... ...

BETTERaOTB PEClILS

PAPAWREWARDSV

Game Special Snack Special

Large 1-Topping Pizza,Breadsticks & 2-Liter

For only

Domer Dollars-Munch Money-Basil BucksDelivery or Carryout

574-271-1177Hours:

Sun- Thurs 1Oam-l amFriday-Saturday l Oam-

2am**Open unti13arn on

home game weekends*

.. THE OBSERVER I FRIDAY, NOVEMBER IS, 20151 NDSMCOBSERVER.COM

IRISH INSIDER1'IlInII dllle'll.be cbann...---- .............~-_...

The Irish faced theCardinal in a top-20 matchup just asManti Te'o was be-ginning his Heismanpusb. In overtime, thelinebacker led the de-fense to stuff Stanfordrunning back StepfanTaylor three times atthe goal line in a rain-soaked win that con-eluded with Irish fansrushing the field.

=--_.-

!~i

Irish undefeated in regular season; streak ends Jan. 7, 2013In Irish coach Brian Kelly's first

two years, Notre Dame turned ina pair of 8-5 seasons.

Despite losing players to the.NFL. the Irish were more suc-cessful in Kelly's third season,going undefeated against theirregular season schedule.

Regular season highlights in-cluded a rout of Navy in Dublin, a20-3 upset of Michigan State, an

emotional 13-6 victory over Mich-igan. an overtime goal-line standagainst Stanford. a road victoryover Oklahoma and a come-from-behind, three-overtime win overPillsburgh.

The Irish reached No.1 in thepolls after a Senior Day victoryover Wake Forest and sealed aberth in the BCS National Cham-pionship Game with a 22-13 vic-

tory over USC on Nov. 24.Traveling to Miami to face off

against Alabama in the nationalchampionship game, the Irishstruggled to contain the CrimsonTide's offense, as Alabama rolledout to a 28-0 lead at halftime.

In the end, Notre Dame fell tothe Crimson Tide, 42-14, endingthe program's first national titlerun since 1988.

-::: THE IilimlI!a =IISH IISIIBI-----Statement Win

No. 5 Noire Dameand NO.8 Oklahomawere tied at 13 withjust over five min-utes left in the game.when a 50-yardcatch by Chris Brownhelped set up an Ev-erett Golson rushingscore. The Irish even-tually pulled away totake a big road winand keep their per-fect season alive.

IRISH INSIDER-----"-_.__ .....-Just three weeks

after Notre Damefell to Michigan onthe road, Oklahomastopped the Irish inthe team's first home1055 since 2011. ThedeBating 35-21 de-feat set the tone forwhat turned out tobe a lackluster 9-4season that endedwith a trip to theNew Era PinstripeBowl.

IRISH INSIDER---_ ...._--_ ...- -~ =~"';'

Just as the FloridaState 1055 began theseason's train wreckending, the embar-rassing road loss torival USC served bothas its end ing and itslowest point. Trojaosquarterback CodyKessler passed for sixtouchdowns and 372yard 5 as Mali k Zai reimpressed after replac-ing Golson in the SeC-ond half of the blowout.

IRISH INSIDERIn the last sched-

uled matchup be-tween the traditionalrivals. Notre Damecapped the series ona high note, shullingout the Wolverinesunder the lights atNotre Dame Stadi-um. Golson threw forthree touchdowns inthe win, which JaylonSmith called "greatrevenge" after theprevious year's loss.

IRISH INSIDER.--...._ ......--_.- ...-::=:- .::..

Despite tho night-mare finish to the2014 regular season,the Irish were ableto salvage one brightspot in topping LSU inthe Music City Bowlon a last-second, 32-yard field goal by KyleBrindza. The winroprosented the onlyloss by a team in theSEC West division to anon-SEC West team iDthe entire season.

IRISH INSIDERn.,. due""""..._--_ ... -._,,--

Just a week aftercorning out victoriousover Oklahoma, theIrish were put throughthe triple-overtimegauntlet against Pitts-burgh. Notre Dameovercame a 14-point,fourth-quarter deficitto force extra time,where it grabbed thewin on a one-yardrushing score by Gol-son.

IRISH INSIDER--

IRISH INSIDER

No. 2 Florida Stateand NO.5Notre Dame,both undefeated, wentdown to the wire astile Irish appeared toscore the go-aheadtouchdown with 13seconds left, but it wascalled oITon an oITen-sive pass interferenceBag. The loss startedthe season's down-ward spiral, whichsaw the Irish drop fiveof their last six games.

Just as with lastyear's game againstFlorida State, NotreDame (aced Clemsonin a top-If) matchupof undefeated teams.Despite making acomeback after fall-ing behind early, theIrish could not pull outthe victory in the rain.Unlike the PSU loss,Notre Dame has wonfour straight gamesfollowing the 1055.