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✦ quoting kelly "Winning in college football is hard to do each and every week. Teams play us so hard. Guys from Navy were in tears, grown men crying after a game they put so much effort and their soul into. It's hard to win." On freshman Dog linebacker Jaylon Smith's understanding of the defense compared to the beginning of the season: "Each and every week he builds on his knowledge base. That doesn't necessarily happen in all the players that I've coached in my years. Sometimes it takes a year to kind of digest everything. Then you come back that next year and you really see kind of a rise in your play. "But with this young man, things happen to him, and they stick. He learns from mistakes that are made and applies it the next week. He's an extraordinary player that has an accelerated learning curve for somebody that experiences it for the first time and very rarely does it come back to hit him again." On freshman running back Tarean Folston after Saturday's 140-yard performance: "I would say he's fully in the mix. Eeach week that changes, but I would say that barring any injuries, he is definitely in that rotation. I was pleased with all of the backs. "Circumstances are such that Amir [Carlisle] didn't get but one snap [against Navy], but I was pleased with the way that George [Atkinson III] ran in his carries and obviously Cam [McDaniel]. We're pleased with the three of those guys and the way they ran the ball." On bringing back fifth-year defensive lineman Tyler Stockton in 2013: "We like the young man in terms of the locker room. He's a great kid. I really like his personality, and he's a team player. He's done whatever we have asked him to do. … He's also a big body. "The one thing that we lack around here is some- To view this video you must log in at BlueGoldOnline.com with your print subscription username and password VIDEO: Head coach Brian Kelly spoke to the media Nov. 5 about last week's win over Navy and Saturday's upcoming game against Pitt. times the depth in those positions. We felt like he brought value to this program. "Now, as it relates to the reps he's got on the field, he hasn't gotten a lot, but when he's gotten in there he's done what we've asked him to do. On Saturday [versus Navy], he was able to go in there and do his job. "He knows that he's not a guy that's going to play 30, 40, 50 snaps. The last piece of that is that he's somebody that when we sat him down, we told him what his role was going to be, and he accepted that role. That's big for me, too. He's got to accept the role that we give him." On sophomore linebacker Romeo Okwara's versatility and future: "I couldn't talk to you about his future. I'm worried about covering kickoffs right now. Right now, he's got some versatility, ability and size. He's playing in our nickel package as one of our ends. He can get his hands on the ground, he has some ✦ Page 10 athleticism and he can play in space. For the present, he has the versatility like a [freshman offensive lineman] Steve Elmer that can play a couple of different positions. "I haven't given much thought as to what that means moving down the line, but right now he serves a great role for us in that he has that flexibility." On Notre Dame winning 10 games in a row decided by seven points or less under Kelly and if the team plays too many close games: "I guess I just look at the games differently than maybe the public views the games. Winning in college football is hard to do each and every week. Teams play us so hard. Guys from Navy were in tears, grown men crying after a game they put so much effort and their soul into. It's hard to win. "A two-point win, a three-point win, we just look at our team and want to get better at what we do, regardless of how we do it. We just want to get better." ✦