Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2018 9 UNDER THE DOME (even-numbered years) or Stanford (odd-numbered years). "Sometimes you just say maybe if you scheduled better on the back end, you'd be a little bit fresher," he said. "I can't control that. The games are already scheduled. "But I have to look at ways in our program where we can keep our guys fresher." The schedule format is not chang- ing because USC and Stanford join Navy as yearly mainstays. In 2018, Notre Dame will make trips to Cal- ifornia to play Navy in San Diego Oct. 27 — although after a bye — and then USC in Los Angeles Nov. 24. In 2019, the Irish open at Louisville, and also travel to Georgia, Michigan and Stanford. For good measure, New Mexico and Bowling Green also were interspersed into the 2019 slate to help ease the road. Nevertheless, minus league affili- ation, Notre Dame isn't in a position of power to dictate scheduling terms versus Power Five foes. "If you're going to be independent, you have to be independent," Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick told Blue & Gold Illustrated this August. "Inde- pendence means playing the best schedule you can. If you're not going to do that, don't be an independent. We've chosen to be independent." WHAT HAPPENED TO MR. NOVEMBER? Starting with his last season at Central Michigan, when he led the Chippewas to their first Mid-Amer- ican Conference title in 12 years, Kelly was at one point a remarkable 24-2 (92.3 winning percentage) from 2006-12 in November/December reg- ular-season games, including his first three seasons at Notre Dame when he was 10-1. He won his last nine such games at Cincinnati, including four against ranked teams. "We make it such that it's not a grind," Kelly responded when asked back then about his "secret sauce" to winning late in the season. "We try to ingrain within our players' and coaches' minds that this is now the time to kick it into gear. This is where you get the opportunity to play for championships. "You can't have a great Novem- ber without having a great plan as it relates to your conditioning, That goes back to January … if you try to win the battle in June and July and August, you're probably going to come up short in November. We want to make sure the tank is full in November." This season, Kelly specifically stated that the Irish were "built for November." Nevertheless, since 2013, Notre Dame is 9-12 in that month. Is it cultural? Is it taking too much of a business-as-usual approach by not putting a premium on any single game over another? Is it the constant cross-country travel necessitated as an independent? One way or another, Kelly main- tains there is only so much he can do in terms of manufacturing energy. "I think there are some things that I can help them with in terms of our leaders and our captains to take that on themselves — because it can't come from us," he said. "They've got to be able to do it. How we can keep them energized emotionally and mentally during the long stretch of games that we had, those [final] six games?" Strong character is not an issue with the Notre Dame football roster. In fact, when someone such as me- chanical engineering major and Aca- demic All-American Drue Tranquill talks about listlessness toward the finish line (including limited sleep), one has to listen empathetically. "Four of the last six we play are in the top 25, and so it's emotionally draining," Tranquill said. "Getting yourself up to those games and be- ing able to perform at your best and preparing mentally and taking in a new game plan each and every week, knowing the stakes of each game, that definitely wears on you. I think that showed a little bit at the end of the season in guys being tired." However, this has not been just a November issue. After dropping to 1-3 with a loss to Duke at home on Sept. 24, 2016, Kelly tore into his team for lacking passion. "If you want to play for me moving forward, you better, … have some damn fire and energy in you," Kelly said. "We lack it. Severely. "… They can't burn for a long time. There's no passion. It looks like it's hard to play, like we're pulling teeth. There's no fun, there's no enjoyment, there's no energy. 'We have to look for the guys that want to have fun and play this game with passion and energy." Notre Dame has done well at scheduling bye weeks right in the middle of the season for decompres- sion, but it has not prevented annual November swoon songs. December will provide some re- spite from the playing field and time to physically heal. But will the emo- tion be recaptured versus LSU? "You don't need much motiva- tion from your football team," Kelly said. "Our guys are pretty motivated. They know what's in front of them in terms of playing LSU." Just like they do each November. ✦ "You can't have a great November without having a great plan as it relates to your conditioning. That goes back to January … if you try to win the battle in June and July and August, you're probably going to come up short in November. We want to make sure the tank is full in November." KELLY