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✦ NEWS & NOTES third-leading tackler in Notre Dame history (behind Bob Crable and Bob Golic), many were stunned to realize that the senior last weekend recorded his first career fumble recovery and first career interception during the 50-10 trouncing of Navy. It's not from a lack of skills, just timing. "He's always been very good in pass coverage," head coach Brian Kelly said. "Sometimes you're just not in the right place at the right time. We were confi- dent for him to be on the field in third-down situations. We never take him off the field." Te'o also finished the game against Navy with a team-high eight tackles. • Freshman Davonté Neal's 11-yard punt return in the second half exceeded MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Although All-America candidate Manti Te'o is well on pace to become the "He's been on this mission … not just football, it's everything in his life," Kelly said. "He's just a very, very driven young man right now … the fire is lit with him to dominate and be the best at everything he does." INJURY UPDATE • Sophomore running back/slot Amir the three punt return yards the Irish had in the regular season last year. He also nearly fumbled once when the football nose-dived in front of him. The preference is to catch and field the ball quickly in those instances, but that is the give-and-take of getting experience. "There are going to be some times where it's going to take a different track, and just be smart, make sure we don't turn the ball over," Kelly said. • Notre Dame trimmed its media access this season down to just Wednesday for players and no access to any of Kelly's assistants. Kelly said that there was no grand scheme to protect any of his players or coaches from the press. "The coaches work 90 hours a week here, and I really felt like I could take a lot of that off their plate so they could focus strictly on, at the end of the day, our preparation," he said. • Of all the days from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30 in the college football calendar, the only one in which Notre Dame has never recorded a win is Sept. 8 — the date it plays Purdue this week. The three other times the Irish ever played on Sept. 8 were all losses: 23-21 to Purdue (in Indianapolis) in 1984, 27-10 at Nebraska in 2001,and 31-10 at Penn State in 2007. Notre Dame had never won on Sept. 1 either, until last weekend. • Although Kelly said Notre Dame's No. 22 ranking right now in the Associated Press poll is just "white noise," the fact of the matter is that the Irish haven't been ranked after their first two games since 2006. • Notre Dame has lost its second game of the year three straight years — each to Michigan on a game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds left in 2009, 27 seconds remaining in 2010 and two seconds on the clock last year. • Ten different Notre Dame players caught a pass against Navy — six of them for the first time in their career: Neal, sophomore DaVaris Daniels, junior Daniel Smith, freshman Justin Ferguson, sophomore Troy Niklas and sophomore Cam McDaniel. That is the most Irish players to catch a pass in one game since the 10 in the 38-21 loss to Oregon State in the 2004 Insight Bowl. • Fifty-six players saw action against Navy, 20 for the first time: nine on offense, 10 on defense and walk-on Tyler Plantz on special teams late in the game. • This will be the 13th time Notre Dame hosts Purdue in a home opener, and it has a 10-2 record against the Boilermakers in such contests. Michigan State had been tied for first (9-3) in home openers versus the Irish, while Michigan was third (5-4-1). Carlisle is expected to practice this week. He missed the season opener while he continued to recover from an ankle injury suffered in the spring. The top three run- ning backs/slots — senior Theo Riddick and sophomores George Atkinson III and Cam McDaniel combined for 37 carries for 265 yards and four touchdowns against Navy. Atkinson and McDaniel both were dinged up, but head coach Brian Kelly said he expects they will be able to play on Saturday. • Junior outside linebacker Danny Spond, who suffered from a severe mi- graine in August, has been cleared for everything in practice except physical contact. Depending on how he progresses this week, he could be ready to play against Michigan State on Sept. 15. The top two at the Dog linebacker spot Spond plays are sophomore Ben Councell and freshman Romeo Okwara, but against Navy's triple option it was sophomore safety Matthias Farley who made the start there. • Junior offensive tackle Tate Nichols Senior linebacker Manti Te'o recorded his first career fumble recovery and first career interception in the 50-10 victory over Navy last Saturday. PHOTO BY MIKE BENNETT/LIGHTHOUSE IMAGING ✦ PAGE 12 will not be available again this weekend while recovering from an August knee in- jury. He did start lifting weights last week and will have limited work in practice this week, but cannot yet be involved in team activities. • Junior safety Austin Collinsworth, who underwent shoulder surgery in June, has been ruled "probably out for the sea- son" by Kelly. ✦