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✦ quoting kelly "The week off proved to be effective for us. I thought we had a great day [Monday]. … I thought the legs were fresh. If there was any rust on the guys, we got them out there moving. Those guys that are banged up got in there and competed. We are like everybody else in college football at this point in the year. We have got guys that are just fighting through it right now." On senior quarterback Tommy Rees — set to play his final home game Saturday — and his ability to maximize his talent during his time at Notre Dame: "That's a good question. I don't know that I've spent much time thinking in those terms. Clearly we know physically that he's somebody that you can't run zoneread packages and put him in a situation where he's going to get yardage running the football. What you have to do is get the most out of what he can do in terms of getting you in the right play and throwing the football. What we've tried to do is run our offense to fit what his skill set is. "You couple that with the success and the wins that he's had, you would probably come close to saying we've both reached that point where we got a lot out of him. Whether we maximized it, there's probably always room for wanting more, and hopefully the next two weeks we'll be able to answer that question better." On senior wide receiver TJ Jones developing into more of a team-focused player instead of an individual-focused one: "TJ's growth and development has kind of mirrored itself both on and off the field. Here's a young man that came in with a lot of national accolades and hype. He had to kind of go through a rough spot or two. He fought through that and developed within the program an understanding of team versus individual. "It's kind of come full circle where I didn't talk much 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. 19 about Saturday's upcoming game against BYU. about TJ the last couple years, but now all I do is talk about TJ. Now, he understands it's team first. "That's generally what happens in the program. When I see players that understand team and show themselves as team players, I start talking about the individual in them. … He's made that progression over his time here." On the senior class that committed to Notre Dame amid the coaching change from Charlie Weis to Brian Kelly: "When you talk about an entire senior class, this is a unique class in that … this was that class we tried to hold onto when we got here. "They were a group of guys that we didn't have a strong bond with. We had to build one over time. I think we have. We have a different relationship in a sense, a unique relationship with these guys, in that they had to trust us. That in itself as a group is a great dynamic." On not forcing as many turnovers defensively as in 2012: "You can't just take the defense. You have to take ✦ Page 10 the offense, the defense, how the game is being played [into account]. The more gambling, the more pressures, the better chance for potential takeaways. You also have to have guys that you feel like will excel in that kind of system. "Finally, I think in terms of what we do, we haven't been as opportunistic. I think all of those three things together will put you where we are today." On preparing for BYU: "I know our guys are focused. They are going to have to have a single minded focus on BYU and really doing their job. Defensively, assignment football is going to be key. They put you in a lot of run/pass conflicts where we are going to have to do a great job. And, obviously, containing [quarterback Taysom] Hill. "Then from our standpoint offensively, finding a way to get some big plays. They have been a team that minimizes the opportunity for big plays, and that's going to be very important for us offensively." ✦