Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/216396
The Rare Air Senior nose guard Louis Nix III has come a long way on and off the field at Notre Dame L By Andrew Owens ouis Nix III had every reason to sit out the Nov. 9 game at Pittsburgh. The senior nose guard had missed consecutive games while battling a knee injury, one that had plagued him for 10 months and occasionally forced him to stand in the classroom because the pain was so unbearable. With a bright NFL future ahead of him and no injury insurance — Nix opted not to buy into the program heading into his senior year — few could have blamed him for taking every precaution before returning to the field. Shortly after suiting up and playing more than 60 snaps against Pittsburgh, Nix saw his injury worsened. During Notre Dame's bye week following the loss to the Panthers, he experienced difficulty with weight training and even mundane tasks like walking to class. After undergoing an MRI and seeking a second opinion from one of the most respected surgeons in the nation, Dr. James Andrews of Pensacola, Fla., Nix underwent season-ending surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee Nov. 21. "When I got back [for] the Pitt game, in my head, I wasn't thinking about it," said Nix, who said earlier this month he first felt affected by the injury in the Jan. 7 BCS National Championship Game. "It was just, 'Let's go out there and ball and don't think about being hurt.' When people mention it, I say, 'Don't even talk about it. I don't want to think about it.' That's not how I play ball. "As the bye week went on, me walking to class, me being at class, teachers noticing I have to stand up because my leg wasn't comfortable at a 90-degree angle, I couldn't sleep because of it. It's been like that all year, but it worsened." There is no hesitation, no indecision, no second-guessing — "He knows what he wants," head coach Brian Kelly insists — with Nix, whether in playing through pain or in his college decision four years ago. The Jacksonville, Fla., native had every reason to stay close to home and say that Notre Dame is too cold, too far, too difficult academically. The Irish didn't even have a head coach when Nix committed. Charlie