Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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USC contest, Schmidt dropped back as the lone linebacker in the defense's dime coverage and read the eyes of redshirt sophomore quarterback Cody Kessler. He looked to his left, anticipated the Trojans signal-caller would throw to Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick and, along with freshman cornerback Devin Butler, sandwiched the sophomore tight end when the ball arrived, causing it to fall to the ground. them jump." Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said he had no unease with putting Schmidt into the game and said he could do so and know that the junior would not cost them the game. "[He] played hard. Next man in," Kelly said. "[He] had a great tackle on a third-down play [early in the fourth quarter]. Then the third-down play, jarred the ball loose. A great example "It was kind of divine," Schmidt said. "Something told me to look left, I saw the quarterback looking left and I broke. Thank God I got there in time. It was really a surreal moment and I have to thank God because it was completely and totally divine. "It might've been the most excited I've been at Notre Dame. I was completely and totally jacked. … [Seniors Dan Fox and Danny Spond] were jumping higher than I've ever seen of coming in, losing our middle linebacker in Jarrett Grace, a guy stepping up. Here is a guy that was a walk-on that earned a scholarship. "We had eight guys out [with injuries] of our two-deep on defense. Here is a guy who steps in and makes two big plays for us." It wouldn't have taken much for Schmidt to have been on the opposing sideline of Notre Dame Stadium that evening. The linebacker said he still