Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly … On inserting fifth-year senior Matthias Farley in at safety early in the game: "He and Max were go- ing to be interchangeable for us. We went with Matthias, and we could have gone either way. We gave Max a chance to start, and we wanted to see Matthias, too. "As the game unfolded, we just stayed with Matthias. But both of them practiced hard all week. It was really a little bit of a preference with a veteran player more so than any- thing else." On freshman kicker Justin Yoon's 52-yard field goal: "There was a point of conversation here a couple of weeks ago [about Yoon's early struggles], and I was very confident that we had straightened out some of his mechanics. He had a [46-yard] kick down at Clemson that was a big kick for us. "We knew what his distance was in pregame. We always establish what we think his max distance was go- ing that way. We had a little bit of a breeze there, and his max distance was right at that number. "We were confident that if the me- chanics were good and the snap was good and the hold was good, that he could make it." Senior defensive tackle Sheldon Day … On understanding Notre Dame can't lose another game if it wants to make the College Football Play- off: "That's something that the team harps on. We know we have a slim margin of error, so we're making sure we're doing everything right on each and every play. We know we can't lose. "In our meetings, we always bring that up so that everyone understands that we're in a tough spot right now." On playing USC next: "It's the biggest rivalry — to me — here. They always give their best, and we give them our best. It's just a great game to be a part of." Sophomore linebacker Greer Martini … On settling down after allowing a Navy touchdown on the first pos- session: "No matter how well our scout offensive team does — and they did a great job this week again — it's still an adjustment for the eyes. Navy runs it so much faster and ex- ecutes it so much better. "That first series we just had to train our eyes for the speed of the game, and after that we settled down and played a little bit better than we did the first series." Junior defensive end Isaac Ro- chell … On the defense's overall produc- tion six games into the season: "I think we're getting better. Every game we're trying to improve on FROM THE LOCKER ROOM