Irish coach Brian Kelly said his defensive players were playing as hard as they could. But with a Stanford offense that is averaging 51.7 points a game up next, he’s asking them to play harder. He needs them to take it to another level.  ”What I’ve been talking [to them] about is, just have that nasty kind of tenaciousness to us that we’ve got t pay with,” Kelly said after practice on Wednesday. ”No matter what happens we have to find a way to win.  ”We play hard. We’re doing the right things and that’s all well and good. Now … we’ve got to fall on our sword. We’ve got to play this game with more toughness and more tenacity than we’ve ever played with before.” — Chicago Sun-Times

Notre Dame No. 1 quarterback, Dayne Crist, started playing like he was competing for the No. 2. job. That was Wednesday. On Thursday came a dramatic rebuttal. And Kelly wrapped up the whole bipolar episode as a blessing. “You’ve got to keep in mind there are learning experiences for him as well,” Kelly said of his 6-foot-4, 235-pound junior who kicks off life after Jimmy Clausen Sept. 4 against Purdue in his first collegiate start. “He was injured most of the year (2009) as well. He wasn’t thrust into those practice situations where you have a sub-par day and (you show) how you handle it. “It’s a great teaching opportunity for me, and Dayne is such a great kid. He’s going to absorb all of those opportunities. He absorbed (Wednesday’s) lackluster lack of focus and came back today and he was outstanding. That’s why he’s a fun guy to coach.”– South Bend Tribune

Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins decided to address the Irish football team after practice Wednesday. He had a tough act to follow. “I think he used much better language than I did, much more eloquent,” said ND first-year head coach Brian Kelly, who admitted to a rather impassioned and not necessarily clergy-friendly diatribe of his own. There are no wasted days on Kelly’s watch, and former five-star recruits aren’t immune to criticism. “I’m actively involved in practice,” Kelly said. “Today I was a little more involved than I wanted to be. It starts with the premise we’re here for Notre Dame to win. Everybody’s responsible. “The coaches that were here last year are no longer here. And the players that were here, they didn’t do such a good job last year, either. “Everybody starts with the same premise: ‘You’re here to win, and I expect you to come right into practice and be locked in for Notre Dame every single day you come out here.’ That message needs to be reinforced some days, and today was a good day to reinforce it.” — South Bend Tribune

If Dayne Crist is feeling pressure over being the latest Irish drum major, he did a marvelous job of concealing it at Notre Dame’s recent media day. “Pressure is what you make of it,” said the seemingly unflappable 6-4 junior from Canoga Park, Calif. “I just try to embrace it. I think I have a pretty good understanding of what it means to be a quarterback at Notre Dame.” What it means is higher expectations than say, Purdue, which glowingly refers to its Cradle of Quarterbacks, but can’t match Notre Dame’s record of eight national championships or 11 consensus titles. Neither can any other Division I school for that matter. Crist has had two years to think about it, carrying Jimmy Clausen’s playbook. How Clausen handled it and his knack for inviting controversy provided Crist with valuable lessons. Crist believes he understands the stress that comes with the position. “You’re always going to be criticized,” he said. “It’s the nature of the position.” Was it worth the wait? “I’m thankful for the time,” said Crist, who has barely scratched the surface. “The first two years were incredibly valuable.” — Post-Tribune

Although Dayne Crist’s college playing résumé is short – he has played in four games completing 10 of 20 passes for 130 yards with a touchdown and an interception – the belief that he can lead the Irish is not. “I think just being the starting quarterback, you always got to be a leader,” receiver Michael Floyd said. “You are kind of like the main core of your offense. You got to control it. He is doing pretty well. I think he is going to do pretty well throughout the year.” Notre Dame will need Crist to do well because there is little proven talent behind him. Nate Montana, the son of former Irish and NFL star Joe Montana, enters the season as the backup and behind him are freshmen Andrew Hendrix, Luke Massa and Tommy Rees. But even with limited options behind his starting quarterback, Kelly said he does not plan on changing how he calls games. “I probably would be at this point right now standing in front of you lying if I didn’t tell you that we got to protect him, you know,” Kelly said. “But we can’t run into a game going, ‘Oh, my God, we can’t do this.’ “I’ve never coached scared. We’re going to be aggressive on offense.” – Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly is starting to form a clearer picture of his team. As the Irish’s opening game against Purdue on Sept. 4 draws near, Kelly is able to define players’ roles and create the mentality and winning atmosphere he wants. “We are identifying and defining at the same time roles for our players,” Kelly said during Notre Dame’s media day Tuesday. “We’ve got plenty of time left, but clearly, from my perspective, we are getting a better handle on our football team.” Receiver Michael Floyd is one player Kelly has gotten a better handle on after more than two weeks of fall training camp. Kelly said he thought Floyd was overhyped based on what he saw from the receiver last season. But the 6-foot-3, 227-pound junior has changed his coach’s mind. “I thought he was at times average,” Kelly said. “But in 20 years, I have not had a player who has worked as hard as Michael Floyd has worked, and I mean that.” The Irish have bought into the coach’s philosophy of paying better attention to details, working at an efficient, fast pace at practice and making sure what they do off the field doesn’t hamper what they do on the field. “I’m very confident in my ability to get our football team ready to win,” Kelly said. “Our players have cut out a lot of the losing things. To me, that’s how you win. “It’s not just about what the scoreboard says. It’s about how you go about doing your job seven days a week, 24 hours a day.”  – Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

A Notre Dame football player is leaving the team to serve a 2-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this fall. Irish freshman and former Timpview High star Chris Badger has turned in his paperwork to serve a mission and is scheduled to leave in August. He is expected to return to Notre Dame in 2012 with four years of eligibility. Irish football coach Brian Kelly supports Badger’s decision, according to a team spokesperson. – DESERET NEWS