Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY ANDREW IVINS J osh Anderson has spent the bet- ter part of the past three years playing the role of opposing running backs on Notre Dame's scout team offense. He has lined up in the backfield like Michigan State's Le'Von Bell, bulled inside like Pittsburgh's James Conor and burst to the outside like USC's Silas Redd. He has been everyone but him- self on the practice field. That's why when he took a handoff from quar- terback Malik Zaire during practice Aug. 15, he felt almost out of place working with the first-team offense. Anderson has gone from an un- known walk-on to a scholarship run- ning back, and he achieved it by just being himself. "The things I did on scout team define me as a person," said the 5-9, 205-pound Anderson, who took some first-team reps while classmate C.J. Prosise was recovering from a hip flexor and three first-year running backs (sophomore Justin Brent, and freshmen Josh Adams and Dexter Williams) were going through fun- damentals. "That's who I am, and that's what I love to do. I love to challenge myself, and I love to push myself to the lim- its. And I will continue to do that my entire life, whether it be in a class- room or on the field, I love the chal- lenge. "I want people to tell me I can't, and I'll do everything to show them that I can." Those are telling words from a player that head coach Brian Kelly said has taken more hits than any other running back at Notre Dame in recent years. Yet if you know any- thing about Anderson, you know that's more than just some outlook on life. The senior pre-med student, who spent this past summer shadowing doctors and studying for the MCAT, is the consummate teammate, and he's going to do whatever it takes to elevate the people around him. "The scout team taught me so many life lessons, and it gave me the strength to persevere through ev- erything," Anderson said. "Going to practice and being on scout and help- ing my brothers get better at football, THE MODEL STUDENT-ATHLETE Senior running back and pre-med major Josh Anderson earns a scholarship