Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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of the season, to go along with a team‑ high 6.5 tackles for loss. The former No. 5 overall player in the nation com‑ ing out of high school according to 247Sports unleashes his game‑alter‑ ing physical abilities seemingly every week. Ahead of Smith's best game of the season against the Sun Devils, Van‑ Gorder predicted that the sophomore's best football would come in Novem‑ ber when he grew comfortable in the scheme. "He's got a lot of reps, so he's gain‑ ing experience, getting more comfort‑ able with it," the coordinator said in late October. "He's a hard worker and it's very important to him. "He's been an outside linebacker that we moved inside, and I think the involvement in flow reads and under‑ key reads have been a process that has at times been a little difficult for him. He's still learning it. His best football is way out in front of him. He's got tremendous traits, physical traits, but he's learning that inside linebacker position and getting better and better with it." When Schmidt suffered the injury Nov. 1 against Navy, Smith knew im‑ mediately it would fall on him to help train the senior's replacement — fresh‑ man Mike linebacker Nyles Morgan. "He's an exciting player. He reminds me a bit of myself as a freshman; not knowing much, but having great ath‑ letic traits and is really coachable," Smith said. "Just from a communica‑ tion standpoint, it upped [my duties] tremendously. I was making sure I knew other people's objectives as far as what their assignments are each and every play. It increased my role." Smith has become the face of the defense, available for virtually every media session and typically the unit's postgame spokesman for what went right or what went wrong that Satur‑ day. "When I see [Schmidt] go down, I know a young guy is going to come in and it's my job to help lead this team and defense, and rally together," he said, adding that the challenge has not intimidated him. Since surprising everyone on the outside by allowing just 12.0 points per game in the first five contests, Notre Dame's defense has taken a step back recently. Beginning with a 43‑point output by North Carolina Oct. 11, the Irish surrendered an average of 42.0 points in their next four games. Cer‑ tainly attrition played a role in that — five members of the projected starting defense at the start of fall camp did not play in the 55‑31 loss to Arizona State for various reasons — but Smith knows the unit needs to blossom to avoid another end‑of‑season disap‑ pointment. "Trust," said Smith when asked how to avoid playing hesitantly on defense. "Relying on yourself at the end of the day, understanding that you're confi‑ dent enough to where you can succeed. "Experience, time. Really just let‑ ting go and understanding that we've been playing the game since we were 7 years old and you've got to have fun. It took me four games [as a freshman] to really let it go." Smith has let it go, and it's showing in his game as he becomes the type of mentor that he relied on for nearly two seasons. ✦