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✦ News & notes They Said It "This game is a national game for us, an oppor‑ tunity for our players. I talked to them yesterday about making history. They can be the first team in college football history to beat USC and Notre Dame in back-to-back weeks. That has never hap‑ pened. I would say that is pretty significant." — Arizona State head coach Todd Graham "They are going to do some things offensively that are very difficult. They do a lot of unbalanced and empty formations that we are going to work really hard on to prepare for. They have really good players. Their tailbacks are similar to the ones we faced this week. Very good and powerful guys. Big tight ends and big receivers. Obviously their defense is the strength of their team and their pro‑ gram. They are very big and very physical. It will be a big challenge for us." — Graham on the problems presented by Notre Dame's personnel Head coach Todd Graham and the Sun Devils are trying to become the first team "This was a team on a mission to close its 28-point ever to beat USC and Notre Dame in backgap and all the ugly aesthetics that came with the to-back weeks. photo courtesy arizona state 42‑14 loss to 2012 national champion Alabama last Jan 7. It wasn't supposed to be about finding the coaching equivalent of duct tape each week to fix new tears in the team's identity." — Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune "This is such a horrible interpretation of what the Alma Mater means. It's never been a celebration. It is not the Notre Dame Victory March. Instead, it's an affirmation of our commitment to each other and of the bond that exists between all students of Notre Dame even when times are tough. I'm sure someone out there will disagree with me. They'll say this tradition is outdated. But for me, this has always been the defining feature of Notre Dame football. We win together. We lose together. But no matter what, we do it together." — Notre Dame student Gordon Stanton on Notre Dame's decision not to sing the alma mater after losses at home, in a letter to The Observer "So you talk about players leaving the alma mater? What about fans that boo Tommy [Rees]? Fans that were coming for everyone's heads after we lost to Tulsa, or Michigan at The Big House, or Navy in the Meadowlands. Wait, what about our so-called fans throw‑ ing marshmallows at us? Not to mention we lost that game. They were 2-9 at the time. Did us players ever boo y'all? Did we write The Observer? Hell no." — Former Notre Dame defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore via Twitter "The predictable howling began Saturday and hardly anyone went hoarse by Sunday. Not even a pillow-to-the-face declaration that Tommy Rees will remain Notre Dame's starting quarterback quelled it, because no one seems prepared to accept the truth that no other option is better." — Brian Hamilton, Chicago Tribune Notre Dame Football tickets 25 years in business Buy ✦ SeLL ✦ TrAde BeST SeLecTioN & priceS www.NotreDametickets.com Call 1-800-925-2500 for friendly, personal service and a Special Discount today! Tickets also available for other nationwide events including MLB, NFL, Auto racing, NBA, all sports, concerts ✦ Page 14