Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 21, 2024 19 the Irish accepted, but the Huskies wound up converting the ensuing third- and-12). Two plays later, he combined for a run stop on third-and-2. "Ausberry, very active, again," first- time Notre Dame on NBC play-by-play announcer Dan Hicks said. Northern Illinois chose to go for it on fourth-and-2. Ausberry had man cov- erage on Williams, who went out for a pass in the flat. Redshirt junior quarter- back Ethan Hampton threw it Williams' way, but Ausberry was all over him. Whether Williams caught the ball or not was moot. If he had, Ausberry was making the tackle short of the line to gain. But he didn't, and No. 4 in blue and gold popped up, signaled "incom- plete" and celebrated with a vicious right hook through the air. "Guess who?" NBC analyst Jason Garrett said. "Yep!" Hicks responded. They didn't need to say his name. Ausberry had caught fire, and there was no cooling him down. "When I really get into that mode, I don't think there's any turning it off," Ausberry said. Notre Dame obvi- ously lost the game, but if there was a positive takeaway on defense, it was that Ausberry took over. He engineered a defensive stop that probably should have sealed the deal with the Irish holding a 14-13 lead. That's something Ausberry can do on any given game day, going back to his time at Baton Rouge (La.) University Lab. "We've seen him take over games be- fore," University Lab head coach Andy Martin told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "He becomes a guy that can't be blocked and makes play after play, whether it's an interception, whether it's a big play be- hind the line of scrimmage or just the normal plays you expect him to make." Martin has seen Ausberry pick off a pass and follow it up with multiple sacks on the next possession. "Bang, bang, bang, just like that," Martin said. "All of a sudden, the of- fense is trying to figure out what they're going to do next. He's definitely had some streaks for us." Ausberry took a year to figure it out at the college level, making the initial depth chart as a freshman but dropping down to the scout team by the end of his first season. Early in spring practice, though, Notre Dame began discussing the ris- ing sophomore as someone they had to get on the field, despite a crowded linebacker room. He's shown why in his first two games, both of which involved key tackles in the fourth quarter. "Jaiden has improved tremendously from Year 1 to Year 2," Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said. "He is still im- proving, and he's doing a really good job of practicing at a high level, and you see him playing at a high level in the games. He's a guy that's helping our defense." When he stepped onto the field at Texas A&M in Week 1, Ausberry ex- plained, he didn't have time for butter- flies in his stomach. He made his pres- ence felt early, with a red-zone pressure on third down that disrupted Aggies redshirt sophomore quarterback Con- ner Weigman enough to cause an in- complete pass. Ausberry believes he's only gotten better from that moment to now. "Really just getting that in-game feel- ing, the noise, all the stuff that's going on around it," Ausberry said. "I think I've re- ally just gotten com- fortable in that posi- tion. Just playing ball." With Ausberry comfortable on the field, his raw speed and instincts can take over. The former four-star prospect is light for a Notre Dame linebacker at 6-foot-2, 216 pounds, but that doesn't matter when he reaches his spot before blockers can touch him. "He would undercut blocks that a lot of people couldn't do, but he just knew what happened so quickly that he would do those things," Martin said. "The way he processes things and reads things, he's such a quick learner." Ausberry reached the point where he can do that in college, despite experi- menting as a nickel back during spring ball. The Irish moved him back to line- backer full-time during fall camp, and he hasn't looked back. As the fight for reps rages on in the Notre Dame linebacker room, Ausberry made significant headway against NIU. And despite his status as one of the least experienced players on the roster, he had to speak for that position group af- ter a disappointing day. The Huskies rushed 45 times for 190 yards (4.2 yards per carry), and coverage breakdowns at the second level cost the Irish early. "I think we just didn't play up to our standard. I think that's the bottom line," Ausberry said. "We're known for play- ing fast, playing violent and getting the ball. And we just didn't play to that standard. Northern Illinois, they came in and they played better than we did." He's right. But he was also the excep- tion when he entered his mode. ✦ Ausberry made key tackles in the fourth quarter in each of Notre Dame's first two games this season. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER "When I really get into that mode, I don't think there's any turning it off." AUSBERRY