Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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nents such as Stanford, Michigan, Michigan State and Oklahoma. The difference this year is that those assignments weren't much different than what Shembo has had to deal with on a daily basis throughout the week. "We've got monsters on our team," he said. "Troy [Niklas] is a mon- ster; Tyler [Eifert is] a monster. The more you practice with monsters, the better. If I go fight a dragon ev- ery day without getting killed … I think I'll know how to beat the dragon eventu- ally." Kelly explained that just a more natural fit for him being at the Cat po- sition. "He's, first of all, a guy for us that can match up against any tight end in the country. We feel like that's a favorable matchup for us when we have Prince Shembo over at tight end. That coupled with his abil- ity to rush the quar- want to share with his fellow "D-Boys." Whether it's a good HAPPY TO BE ON THE SAME SIDE AS PRINCE SHEMBO." SENIOR MANTI TE'O BUT WHEN YOU WATCH THE TAPE, THAT LITTLE 6-1 DUDE IS FOLDING 6-8, 300-POUND LINEMEN, SO I'M "IF YOU LOOK AT HIM, PRINCE IS NOT THAT BIG COMPARED TO THE GUYS HE'S GOING UP AGAINST. using Shembo on the op- posite side in 2011 was a matter of filling a need, and not so much playing to Shembo's strengths. "It was definitely to get our best players on the field at the time," he said. "And, as you know, we were developing some younger players at the position. Prince obvi- ously plays much better when we can shorten the field and he can get af- ter the quarterback. He's great over a tight end. It's terback, both of those things stand out for us; that you've got a guy that could be so strong against the run and then give you great effort, too. He doesn't take a play off." Fans have begun to take notice of the sledge- hammer different Irish defenders carry around before games. It was an idea that originated with Diaco. It's a symbol Sh- embo has a hard time letting go of and sharing with his teammates. It's the only thing he doesn't laugh, which included telling Stanford tight end Zach Ertz between plays that he wasn't rated as high by NFL scouts as Notre Dame's Eifert, or going to the movies (ex- cept for horror films; Sh- embo doesn't dig those), the defense does every- thing together. Shembo is content with the allotment of praise being spread evenly. Besides, he's hammer. "I'm like Thor with too busy looking for the next head to knock off. But, please, be careful with that sledge- the hammer," he said. "I think [before the BYU game] I accidentally hit [Robby] Toma. I was swinging it and I didn't know he was behind me and I hit him in the leg. At practice I was swing- ing it around [Thurs- day before BYU] and I accidentally hit Bennett [Jackson] in the knee. "I've got to be careful, so I don't swing it now." So far this fall, he has inflicted enough pain without it. ✦