Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/101656
��� News & notes They Said It ���This is a business trip. There���s no question we���re here to play the game, but I want our guys relaxed. They���ve done all the work. We���ve got some practices we���ve got to take care of, but I want them relaxed and ready to play.��� ��� Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly ���It���s Rudy versus Forrest Gump [laughs], but both very storied programs and a bunch of national championships. We���re excited to compete with the best because that���s how you become the best.��� ��� Notre Dame senior wide receiver Robby Toma ���They���re probably the most fundamentally sound defense I���ve seen on film. Very well coached, you can tell. Very technically sound. Other than that, they have very good players.��� ��� Alabama senior center Barrett Jones on Notre Dame���s defense ���They do a really good job of making big plays on the defensive side. Most of the time your thinking going into the game is to win the offense from big plays, but their defense makes a lot of big plays, too. Sophomore Christion Jones, who has 25 ��� We���re just going to have to bring our ���A��� game.��� ��� receptions for 328 yards and four touchdowns, is part of a balanced Alabama receivAlabama junior quarterback AJ McCarron ing corps. photo courtesy alabama ���Tackle to tackle it���s the best group, collection of offensive linemen, we���ve played against. They���re uniquely big and fast. They have quick twitch. They���re not on the ground. They have excellent contact balance and ballast. They play very hard; that���s another unique trait. It���s not another happy-go-lucky group of offensive linemen. This is an angry, aggressive, intense group of players that play hard and finish blocks.��� ��� Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco on the Alabama offensive line ���They���ve made a lot of great plays on the ball. They do a lot of different things with man coverage. They play great man. They play good zone defense. They do a lot of things well that we���re going to have to focus on.��� ��� Alabama sophomore wide receiver Christion Jones on the Irish ���For me, I���ve always been a believer that regardless of the situation, the field is still 120 yards long, the football is still the same shape, and everybody straps on their chinstraps the same way. We understand that this is a big game, but at the end of the day, it���s still football, and I think when we start to do things differently than we���ve done all season, that���s when we���re going to start getting into trouble.��� ��� Notre Dame senior linebacker Manti Te���o on playing on college football���s biggest stage ���I���m so ready to play. It gets kind of boring going against our offense for the past four or five weeks. It���s going to be good to go against somebody different.��� ��� Notre Dame fifth-year senior defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore ��� Page 11