Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540307
28 OCT. 18, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On Notre Dame's four-game winning streak and what's going right: "You know what I'm going to say. It's the commitment and sacrifice to the process that we have. Maybe I'll say that in a different way. I could just say preparation. But the commitment to what we're asking our guys to do, the sacrifice they're making, the choice they have to make every single Saturday and put team before me. And the choice they have to make Monday through Friday to say, 'I have to elevate as an individual. I have to get better.' "If they continue to do that, they'll understand that we have room to grow. This is where we're at. We've got to continu- ously get better, and that's just — you have to train your mind to just focus on the moment. "I know a lot of people focus on the big picture, but we can't. We have to focus on what we have in front of us. That's opportunity. Enjoy this victory, but now go back to work and improve. And that, hopefully, will get us the results that we want." On redshirt sophomore KK Smith getting his first ca- reer touchdown: "I don't know when Micah [Gilbert] went down with a hand injury, [but] they told me Micah is out. He's got a hand injury, and KK has been a guy that has been practic- ing at a high level. He's earning trust from CJ [Carr] and Kenny [Minchey] in practice, and he's committed to being a better player. Today he gets a little bit of that reward. "I've always said you earn the trust of your teammates and coaches in practice way before you're doing it on the game field." On his message at halftime when Notre Dame was leading only 10-7: "My message was, 'Stop beating Notre Dame.' You look at the touchdown drive in the first half, and bad technique. We give up an explosive play, and they convert on two or three third downs, and that's the result. The offense, the penalties that put you behind the sticks result in punting the ball or turning it over on downs. "It's easy for me to say, 'Don't beat Notre Dame,' but we have to continue to train our minds to focus in the right way and go out and execute. They did, and it wasn't perfect in the second half. I think we came out the first time on offense and had to punt, went three-and-out. "I didn't think we came out of the locker room perfectly, but you just keep battling, and you just — you're going to look at me and say, really? But it's just: win this play. That's really it. Your mindset has to just be, 'I don't care what happened last play. I've got to win this play. I've been trained to win this play, and I've got to go out there and do it.' And then you've got to move on to the next one, and that's going to, hopefully, help you get the results you want." NOTRE DAME REDSHIRT FRESHMAN QUARTERBACK CJ CARR … On what he's learned as the starting quarterback at the halfway point of the regular season: "We'd be here all day if I had to tell you what I've learned throughout the last however many weeks it's been. "It's been an unbelievable process, and now it's just con- tinuing to be consistent with it, I think, is what I and the rest of the offense have to do to just continue to elevate each week and finish the season properly." On the Irish offense getting over the hump on short yardage and the red zone: "I think it's just the reps in prac- tice and continuing to be detailed with that red zone stuff. I thought they played it on defense really well today. "We put ourselves in some bad situations with penalties, but we're going to get it corrected and fixed, and back at it Monday to do all those things." NORTH CAROLINA STATE HEAD COACH DAVE DOEREN … On what went wrong: "To start off, give Notre Dame credit. They bottled us up defensively, played man-free, packed the box. We weren't able to take advantage of one-on- one coverage. I thought we had four or five down-the-field throws that we've been making and at least having a chance to make plays on. "It just didn't happen today. And, unfortunately, when you get man-free as much as we did today, you're going to have to be able to win some one-on-ones down the field." On the Notre Dame offense: "I knew Notre Dame would make some plays. I was disappointed that they got behind us in coverage a couple times. I thought our matchup should be OK. Their tight end [Eli Raridon] was better than I expected. I thought he played exceptional for them. A big, tall kid who got behind us, which I didn't expect him to be able to do." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Redshirt sophomore wide receiver KK Smith notched his first career touch- down catch in the win over the Wolfpack. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER