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✦ News & notes He includes the two prized freshmen in that discussion. The combination of the noise on the road when Notre Dame has the ball and quarterback Tommy Rees' audible calls where everyone has to be on the same page have contributed to the rookies not yet having larger roles. Both did appear in the first half at Purdue, with Bryant carrying for a two-yard gain, but their best days are ahead of them. "We have not been able to get into the ideal situation to play them, primarily because we have had to deal with so many pressure fronts and so many times where we are calling our backs [on audibles] back in to protect," Kelly said. "It has not been the best proving ground for some freshmen running backs. Hopefully as time moves on, we'll be able to do that. "I like the way Greg runs. He's just really a physical, hard runner … he runs downhill. There's not a lot of wasted movement. He gets it and goes. When he first got here, there was a lot of dancing, and now it's point A to point B. I like the way he hits things; he has very good acceleration. "Folston is very smooth. It just looks like everything he does is very smooth. He gets out of his breaks very, very well, puts his foot in the ground and can accelerate, and catches the ball extremely well. Both those guys really catch my attention. Even in pregame against Purdue, we were watching our young kids warm up, and they catch your eye." Tuning Out The Noise After Notre Dame's remarkable 12‑1 turnaround campaign last year, a letdown in 2013 was virtually inevitable. The loss at Michigan and a struggle at rebuilding Purdue have many Notre Dame faithful questioning every aspect of the program, from the play calling and instruction by the staff to the dedication of the players. Former Notre Dame national title coaches Ara Parseghian (1964-74) and Lou Holtz (1986-96) have often contended that the worst part of the job was after having reached the summit. That's because thereafter victory often became more of a relief than joy, while defeat — or even not winning by larger margins — triggered vitriol. "Once you understand why you're doing this job at Notre Dame, it's easier to enjoy it," head coach Brian Kelly said. "And I'm doing it because I get a chance to coach incredible kids." Kelly noted how for the second weekend in a row, the team arrived back home at 3 a.m. after a road game, went through the team meeting that day at noon, had study table from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., grabbed dinner and had study groups from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. "That's their lifestyle, and that's how they do it here at Notre Dame, and that's great," Kelly said. "Once you really get your hands around the fact that it's truly college football at Notre Dame and that's the way they handle things, then you can enjoy it. If you get caught up in the noise of everything else, there's no way you could enjoy it." The daily rapport and teaching is what makes the job enjoyable. "I enjoy being with my guys," Kelly said. "I'm going to defend them. I'm going to back them up. I'm also going to point out to them when they don't make the decisions that they need to make, the good decisions. "… You've got to understand at Notre Dame what our mission is. We want to win a BCS championship, no question about it. But all those other things are really important to us as well." The Irish have fallen behind 10-0 against both Michigan and Purdue, a trend head coach Brian Kelly said they need to reverse through better execution early in games. photo by bill panzica Make It Quick! During the 12-0 regular season in 2012, the first quarter was Notre Dame's best while outscoring the opposition 85-9 and not allowing a touchdown. That changed in the BCS National Championship Game, when Alabama roared to a 14-0 first-quarter lead that became 21-0 four seconds into the second quarter. Notre Dame opened this season by taking a 14-0 lead in the first 4:41 versus Temple, but it faced 10-0 deficits each of the last two weeks at Michigan and Purdue. Irish head coach Brian Kelly doesn't pinpoint any one aspect for the lethargic starts in three of the last four contests. "We all have to take accountability for ✦ Page 13 not starting well," he said. "At Michigan, we had a couple of third-down situations early on that we didn't execute very well, and then we didn't punt the football again. "At Purdue, we didn't handle some fronts and some movements up front. We didn't throw the ball effectively, didn't get into some checks early on, and then settled down and got into it." Relying on second-half wake-up calls get you only so far. "We're not going to use it as, 'Well, that's just the way it is,'" Kelly said. "That's not the way we're going to play. We need to play better out of the gates … we can't rely on having a great second half comeback. That's just going to wear out here." ✦