Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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for Toma and his fellow seniors, and early this season unimaginable tragedy struck a strong Te'o, the kind that might have crippled anyone else. His support of Te'o, who lost his girlfriend to cancer and grand- mother to natural causes in a matter of hours back in Septem- ber, might be Toma's lasting legacy at Notre Dame. "It's the best story there has never been the slightest bit of jealousy in Toma's voice. "We grew up to- gether. He's basically my brother," Toma said. "That guy means every- thing to me. Watching his big hits is something I've always been used to watching." Toma kept his head case with the NCAA. A source told Blue & Gold Illustrated that Toma plans to apply for a fifth season. If 2012 turns out to be Toma's last year with the Irish, he's taken all he could from the expe- rience. "Everything happens ever to have my best friend here, my brother," Te'o said. "I call him my twin. We obviously don't look alike, but we're basi- cally the same person. To have him here and to see the joy in his eyes … it's definitely something that is really fulfilling for me." Toma was there to console the Heisman Trophy candidate dur- ing the darkest time of Te'o's life. The room- mates even returned to Hawaii together dur- ing the bye week to say their goodbyes at Te'o's grandmother's funeral. Content to sit and an- up when he opened the 2011 season on the bench after starting the final four games in 2010. "That was rough," for a reason," he said. "God has a plan for me. I'm just going to enjoy the rest of the year." It has been a year he said. "I just kept the faith, and my fam- ily supported me. To- wards the end of my ju- nior year, I got the nod again. And now my se- nior year I've started a bunch of games [five to be exact]. The way that I got here wasn't the easi- est road, but it made me who I am today." He doesn't regret swer questions about his famous friend as he has for four years, 2009, when he was used sparingly in three games, which likely cost him a fifth year of eligibility next season. Though he doesn't ap- pear to qualify for an- other year, it's possible that something like an injury that wasn't made known to the media his freshman year could be used to argue his when the Irish have done the unthinkable. No matter what hap- pens at USC, or in Mi- ami at the BCS national championship if the Irish make it that far, Toma said the season will be considered a success. "We weren't as suc- cessful as we wanted to be [in previous years], but to be as success- ful as we are [now] … Coach talks a lot about laying the foundation when he first got here," Toma said. "I think we've done that. I think teams are going to start respecting Notre Dame and know we're back. … proud of what we've done." ✦ "We're going to be