Cavalier Corner Digital

✦ News & notes "You're not going to see Malik, unless we get into an injury situation," Kelly said. "We only have the three quarterbacks, so we have to keep him ready to go. But I'd prefer not to play him unless we have a medical situation." Personnel Items • Junior Dog linebacker Ben Councell won't play during the first half of the Arizona State game. Councell was ejected from last Saturday's game after hitting an Oklahoma receiver in the head with his helmet. Head coach Brian Kelly said Notre Dame appealed the decision and lost. Players penalized under the NCAA's new targeting rule in the second half of a game are forced to sit out the first half of the next contest. Sophomore Romeo Okwara will shift to the Dog linebacker position to replace Councell as freshman Jaylon Smith's backup during the first half. • Sophomore defensive end Sheldon Day is expected to play some this week against the Sun Devils after missing all of the last two games with a sprained ankle. Kelly said Day re-injured the ankle while warming up for the Oklahoma game. In his absence, senior Kona Schwenke had a much busier couple of weeks on the field than he is used to. Kelly said overall he's been happy with the way his defensive linemen have increased their "work volume" this season. Senior Louis Nix III was on the field for a career-high 72 plays (Oklahoma ran 73 offensive plays) against the Sooners and was not credited with a "loaf" on any of them in the tape review. Last year Nix averaged about 40 to 50 snaps per game, according to Kelly. "He played a whale of a football game," Kelly said. "But he's playing a lot of foot- ball. … We're trying to give them as much of a blow as we can, but we also feel like we're a better defense with [the starters] on the field." • The Notre Dame coaches have not been shy about playing freshman cornerbacks. KeiVarae Russell was a Freshman All-American last year, Cole Luke had an extensive role from day one this year and now Devin Butler also is working into the rotation. Last week the coaches named him their special teams player of the week for his physical play, and he also earned more time at corner. Senior nose guard Louis Nix III was on the field for a career-high 72 plays against Oklahoma last week. photo by bill panzica ✦ Page 13 "We see a young man there that's growing quickly," Kelly said of Butler. "Both of those freshmen corners have shown not only the physical ability but the mental capacity to be able to go in there and compete." The Need To Be 'Ordinary' Brian Kelly doesn't like to live in the past, but earlier this week he showed his team a 10-minute clip of last year's 12-0 start, which specifically highlighted numerous crucial moments or plays that spelled the difference between an unbeaten campaign or one that could have been 7-5 or even 6-6. "My point being the margin last year was razor thin, and the margin this year is razor thin," Kelly explained. "What we haven't done well, quite frankly, is the ordinary things — last year we did the ordinary things much better. "We have got to stay above the cut in cover three. We've got to run routes better. We've got to pick up protections that are day one protections. … We've got to complete easy balls … the difference between 5-0 and 3-2 is about five or six plays, and that's kind of where we are at this point." The two programs right now that are making winning look routine are Alabama and Oregon, but they are the exception rather than the rule in college football. "The margin of winning and losing in college football is so fine," Kelly said. "It doesn't matter who you're playing. You go across the board week in and week out, it's a battle, except for maybe one team in the country who's made it look easy. Everybody has a battle from week to week to win football games and to win them consistently. "You've got to find ways to win, and those little things, doing the ordinary things, make a difference." ✦

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