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✦ NEWS & NOTES has helped first-year starter Everett Gol- son get more comfortable in the pocket. A day after the 41-3 victory versus Mi- ami, Kelly also noted how executing the zone option play with some success seemed to get Golson into the total game as well. "We're building trust, and we're allow- ing him to have some input in terms of, "Here is what I'm comfortable doing,'" Kelly said. "That's evolving on a day-to- day basis. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • ESPN's GameDay originated at Notre Dame for the Nov. 13, 1993 showdown between No. 1 Florida State at No. 2 Notre Dame, a game won by the Irish 31‑24. This will be the eighth time Notre Dame hosts GameDay — the first since the infamous 34‑31 loss to No. 1 USC in 2005 —and the 20th time overall the Irish have been involved in the game. The Irish are 8‑11 overall, including 3‑4 at home, in GameDay contests. • Notre Dame's players will wear pink towels, cleats, wristbands and other ac‑ cessories during Saturday's game as part of the breast cancer awareness cam‑ paign embraced on all levels of foot‑ ball during the month of October. Brian Kelly, the husband of a two‑time cancer survivor, said the pink‑clad trend is "an incredible, powerful thing." • No. 7 Notre Dame has committed only four turnovers through five games, which is tied for ninth fewest in the na‑ tion. It's not a coincidence that four of the teams ranked ahead of the Irish ei‑ ther have fewer (three apiece by Ala‑ bama, Kansas State and West Virginia) or just as many (four by Florida). Stanford isn't bad either with just six. • The Irish are the only team in the ESPN's College GameDay crew — from left to right, Desmond Howard, Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit — was on hand for Notre Dame's game at Michigan in 2011, but will be making its first appearance in South Bend since Oct. 15, 2005 when the Irish fell 34-31 to No. 1 USC. having fun and enjoying it — but is also disciplined and getting with us in the right place and making the right choices. We're working hard with meeting in the middle … we're getting there." "We want somebody who is smiling and TESTING, TESTING, 1, 2, 3 It's midterm week on Notre Dame's 120‑team Football Bowl Subdivision not to fall behind yet this year, and it hasn't done that through the first five games since the 1947 national champs. campus. Add that to the list of distractions for the No. 7 Irish this week, who will host a small army of ESPN television shows and on-air personalities while they're finish- ing their exams. Head coach Brian Kelly said he's not worried about his team's focus this week because the senior class is 0-3 against the Cardinal — whose seniors already have gone 4-0 against USC after defeating the Trojans 21-14 Sept. 15. Nevertheless, it is a situation the Irish coaching staff is trying to monitor this week. Even during the 13-6 victory versus Michigan Sept. 22, when starting quarter- back Everett Golson was pulled from the game in the first half, Kelly alluded to the fact that it had been a challenging week for Golson academically. ✦ PAGE 13 PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN "Our coaches have to know what the schedules look like," Kelly said. "We have to make sure that proper time is placed on the academics as well as football. There has to be a balance there. "We're not going to let them say, 'Well, it's mid-term week, I can't practice,' but we don't want to be so inflexible that we won't give them extra time and move weight training to an hour later. … We have to be aware of the schedule, and we've done a pretty good job with it. We can manage it. There's no question about that." ✦