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✦ News & notes What's My [Defensive] Line? Entering the 2013 college football season, Notre Dame's defensive line was not only considered the team's top strength, but also among the nation's best — Phil Steele's 2013 College Football Preview ranked it as the top group in the country. The tandem of senior nose guard Louis Nix III and junior end Stephon Tuitt were both projected as future first-round picks, while sophomore end Sheldon Day was praised by the Irish coaching staff as the most technically sound at beating blocks. Alas, Tuitt came into the season battling the effects of offseason hernia surgery, Day has missed about half of the season with a high ankle sprain suffered at Purdue Sept. 14, and a combination of a meniscus tear and knee tendonitis shelved Nix the past two weeks against Air Force and Navy. For the first time since the aforementioned Purdue game nearly two months ago, all three might be able to start or play together extensively at Pitt — although head coach Brian Kelly is still knocking on wood. "At what level of health, we will see where it is," admitted Kelly of some uncertainty remaining about his walking wounded. "I think everybody at this time of the year isn't at 100 percent, but I think we're getting close where we may get all three of them on the field at one time." The defensive front has taken massive hits since March. The potential No. 2 unit of juniors Tony Springmann (ACL) and Chase Hounshell (torn labrum) and fivestar signee Eddie Vanderdoes (allowed by the NCAA to enroll at UCLA instead) was ravaged before the season even began, and last week senior Kona Schwenke, the top swing man along the line this fall, suffered a high ankle sprain against Navy that will sideline him against Pitt and perhaps more games thereafter. cleared an MRI scan Sunday afternoon. He will need surgery at some point to fully fix the meniscus problem, but Kelly said Nix has been going above and beyond the call of his duty in his rehab, including reporting regularly for 7 a.m. work. "He's really committed to trying to give everything that he can," said Kelly, who added that he is unsure about the physical threshold and volume of snaps Nix might be able to take at Pitt. The same is true for Day, who re-aggravated his injury against both Air Force and Navy while trying to ward off cut blocks. Still, if Day is able to provide some snaps, that would allow Tuitt to slide from the middle of the line to his natural outside position, where he had seven tackles and two sacks against USC in his last game on the perimeter. Pittsburgh's offensive line is working through its own set of injuries and has allowed 3.63 sacks per game, which ranks 118th out of 123 Football Bowl Subdivision teams this season. Because Chase Hounshell and freshman Jacob Matuska, who is redshirting this season, will not play for Notre Dame in 2013, reserve senior offensive lineman Bruce Heggie will work with the defensive line this week in case he's needed for an emergency. As Kelly knows all too well, the line has had its share of emergencies this year. Injury Report Senior nose guard Louis Nix III was sidelined the past two weeks by a combination of a meniscus tear and knee tendonitis, but he is expected to return to action at Pittsburgh on Saturday. photo by bill panzica Versus Navy, Notre Dame shifted sophomore Cat linebacker Romeo Okwara to start at end (five-technique) for the first time. It also relied on snaps from fifth-year senior Tyler Stockton, senior Justin Utupo, junior Anthony Rabasa, sophomore Jarron Jones and freshman Isaac Rochell in true "all hands on deck" form. Nix had plasma injections to help with tendonitis in the joints in October and ✦ Page 11 In addition to the MASH unit along the defensive line, here is the injury situation with the rest of the team: • Junior Dog linebacker Ben Councell tore his ACL against Navy and will need surgery in the coming week that will keep him out for the rest of the season and limit him in spring practice.