Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME to 3-6 the past two sea- sons, notably losing the last four in 2014. For- tunately for the Irish, K e l l y b e l i e v e s t w o t h i n g s h a v e w o r k e d or could be working in Notre Dame's favor this time. O n e w a s t h e i d e - a l l y t i m e d m i d - t e r m break from Oct. 18-25 in which the players were able to go home and spend time with their family while rest- ing their bodies. There was also an emotional high to go back with after defeating archri- val USC, which had clobbered Notre Dame 49-14 the year prior. "If we could get that every year, that would b e a h u g e p i e c e f o r us," Kelly said of the bye week coinciding with mid-term break. "If we could craft that i n s c h e d u l i n g , t h a t would be very helpful to Notre Dame. "They needed just to get off campus. They had been here a long time. A change of rou- tine was all that they n e e d e d , a n d r e a l l y, more of an academic break than a football break. They like to play football … they needed a break from all the other things that they are required to do, and th ey got th at, an d I think that was probably the energy they needed to get restored." Second, the upcom- ing trips to Pennsyl- vania and Boston are relatively quick flights t h a t s h o u l d n ' t t a k e too much of a toll like last year when Notre Dame had a couple of November West Coast trips to Arizona State and USC for early start- ing times. By the time the trip to Stanford oc- curs, the Irish could potentially be 10-1 with a College Football Play- off berth on the line — which itself is all the motivation that will be needed before taking some more time off in December. "The light at the end o f t h e t u n n e l , t h e n a d r e n a l i n e a n d a l l those things kind of take over," Kelly said. "The real stretch for us is these back-to-back weeks [in Pennsylva- nia] are really impor- tant." ✦ Earn 1.00% cash back, up to $500. Excludes Elevate™ program participating loans, Rate Genius loans and existing NDFCU loans. Offer may change at any time. No payments until January 2016. Interest will accrue during this time. Independent of the University.