Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Southern California after the offensive tackle went down with an injury. His durability and toughness have allowed the Irish to take Martin for granted again this season. 8. QB Everett Golson With the victory against USC, sophomore Everett Golson joined Frank Leahy era signal-caller Bob Williams as the only quarterbacks in school history to begin their careers by winning their first 10 starts. The road to success was not always smooth for Golson, but he proved he was talented and poised enough to learn on the job. Golson threw for 2,135 yards as a rookie and, more importantly, only five interceptions to go with his 11 touchdown passes. As the weeks wore on and he established a more permanent role in the huddle, he also added an important dynamic to the Irish rushing attack. He showed several times during the year that he was at his best in pressure situations, especially playing in front of hostile crowds on the road. "I think as he gets into the flow of the game, once you start seeing him smile a little bit, I think everyone that watches him knows that's when he plays his best," Kelly said. 9. CB Bennett Jackson Junior Bennett Jackson, the de facto leader of the Notre Dame cornerbacks, finished tied with Motta with 61 tackles this season. He made a remarkable 44 of those stops on his own and even more of them in the open field — not bad for a player who started his career as a wide receiver. Jackson's four interceptions in the regular season were also second to Te'o and tops in the secondary. Like it did with Motta, necessity forged Jackson into a leader after junior Lo Wood tore his Achilles tendon in August. He rose to the occasion by immediately taking some of the team's younger corners under his wing and pushing them to fill the gap left by Wood's absence. It's easy to forget that 2012 was just Jackson's first season as a starter or even a regular contributor on the Notre Dame defense. 10. CB KeiVarae Russell KeiVarae Russell's name was a surprise when it first landed in the discussion to replace Wood. It didn't take long for Russell to show how he earned the coaches' trust so quickly. Raw talent and a willingness to learn a new position made the Washington native a key contributor at a tough position as a true freshman. "Some guys are just natural with their feet and flipping their hips and gifted athletic ability," Cooks said. "He was one of those guys that I identified on day one just having the ability to play corner and be able to do the job." Russell made 50 tackles in his first 12 collegiate games and intercepted two passes. He also managed to keep some of the country's top wide receivers, such as USC's Marqise Lee, from sneaking behind him for big plays. 11. LB Prince Shembo The speed of Notre Dame's pass rush got a major turbo boost in 2012 when linebacker Prince Shembo moved from Dog to Cat linebacker. The Cat posi-