Four Notre Dame players spoke to reporters following tonight's Notre Dame victory over Virginia: LB Jack Kiser, WR Jordan Faison, S Adon Shuler and RB Jeremiyah Love. We'll have transcripts from every player in this thread.
Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
JACK KISER
How does the defense feed off one big play from the next?
“It’s a lot of fun when you can have a lot of havoc on the ball. Certainly, tonight we were able to do that. Guys were flying around. Guys were seeing their keys and recognizing stuff and making plays on it. It just makes playing ball a lot of fun, and it makes you hungry to get back out there. When those short series happen, you want to get right back on the field. We were flying around having a lot of fun tonight for sure.”
What does the 63-game record mean to you? And how were you able to answer the bell 63 times?
“Kind of what you hinted to, it’s not easy. There’s a lot of people that go into me stepping on the field 63 times. The trainers, family, teammates, strength coaches, coaches in general — there’s a lot of people that play into that. That’s the best thing about this record. It’s not a me thing. It’s a we thing.
“But being able to suit up and go on that field and play with your brothers out there, that’s really important. To do that so many times, that’s an extreme honor. And to think about some of the guys I got to do it with. I know that Robert Hainsey got put up on the screen today, and guys were like, ‘Who’s that?’ But like I was on the scout team against him. Now it was really cool to see him come back and get up there. [Ian] Book was back today, and I know Sam [Hartman] was back. Seeing those guys come back and knowing I got to play with them and be a part of their story and they’re a part of my story, it’s been really special.
“Growing up an hour away, Notre Dame’s a super special place. To allow people to join in and experience this with me from back home, it’s been a big honor of mine.”
Was the record ever put on your radar at some point? Was it ever a motivating factor to you?
“It was brought up, I think, in camp. Then I really found out about it when I was doing a podcast with Coach Freeman about like, ‘Wow, I am actually within striking distance.’ It’s never a goal I set out for. I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to be here a long time. Coach Freeman and the staff asked me to come back. That played a part in it. Just being able to do it, it’s cool to say that your name’s in the record book at Notre Dame, especially a prestigious program like this is. To be part of the history is extremely neat.”
You had a sack late where a blocker tried to take you out low and you kept going. Does knowing it could be your last game in Notre Dame Stadium give you extra juice to keep going late in a game like this?
“Any time you step on the field in Notre Dame Stadium you’re gonna go all out. That doesn’t change. That mindset doesn’t change. Just knowing that’s the type of player I am and I think that this defense is. You don’t stop on a play. You don’t quit on a play. Down-up is the way we call it as a linebacker. I got up and the guy was in front of me and I was able to make the tackle. I’m glad I could finish it this week. Last week I didn’t get to finish the sack. That was big time for me to get that one back.”
Any flashbacks to your high school days operating that fake punt?
“We’ve been working that a while. I kept reminding Coach Free, ‘Hey, I played triple-option quarterback in high school. I can do a reverse pivot.’ That’s something we practiced a lot. The reverse pivot blind handoff, that is a tough thing to do. I thought it worked really well. I don’t really know what the penalty was, but it was a lot of fun, one, practicing it, and getting to kinda relive those glory days back in high school.”
Is it just a bummer then when you see that flag? They took a long time to figure out what the penalty was.
“I don’t really know what happened. I just know I ran all the way down there, was freaking out, then I saw a flag and my heart sank. I don’t know. It was fun. It was certainly a fun play to do though.”
I know Coach Freeman preaches one play, one life. But now you’re two games from finishing the regular season. Can you block out what could possibly happen after that? Does your mind wander to playing a game in the snow here in December?
“You have to block it out. It’s one game, one life. One play, one life. The next two games are the biggest stretch of our lives. You gotta go all in no matter what. The future’s uncertain. Whatever happens happens. But knowing that you didn’t leave anything behind and you did everything you could, that has to be the mindset. We’ve been saying it on defense: all chips in. That’s just the mindset we have every day when we come to work. On a Tuesday, on a Wednesday — it doesn’t matter what day it is. You gotta be ready to give it your all, because you don’t know what the future holds.”
Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
JACK KISER
How does the defense feed off one big play from the next?
“It’s a lot of fun when you can have a lot of havoc on the ball. Certainly, tonight we were able to do that. Guys were flying around. Guys were seeing their keys and recognizing stuff and making plays on it. It just makes playing ball a lot of fun, and it makes you hungry to get back out there. When those short series happen, you want to get right back on the field. We were flying around having a lot of fun tonight for sure.”
What does the 63-game record mean to you? And how were you able to answer the bell 63 times?
“Kind of what you hinted to, it’s not easy. There’s a lot of people that go into me stepping on the field 63 times. The trainers, family, teammates, strength coaches, coaches in general — there’s a lot of people that play into that. That’s the best thing about this record. It’s not a me thing. It’s a we thing.
“But being able to suit up and go on that field and play with your brothers out there, that’s really important. To do that so many times, that’s an extreme honor. And to think about some of the guys I got to do it with. I know that Robert Hainsey got put up on the screen today, and guys were like, ‘Who’s that?’ But like I was on the scout team against him. Now it was really cool to see him come back and get up there. [Ian] Book was back today, and I know Sam [Hartman] was back. Seeing those guys come back and knowing I got to play with them and be a part of their story and they’re a part of my story, it’s been really special.
“Growing up an hour away, Notre Dame’s a super special place. To allow people to join in and experience this with me from back home, it’s been a big honor of mine.”
Was the record ever put on your radar at some point? Was it ever a motivating factor to you?
“It was brought up, I think, in camp. Then I really found out about it when I was doing a podcast with Coach Freeman about like, ‘Wow, I am actually within striking distance.’ It’s never a goal I set out for. I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to be here a long time. Coach Freeman and the staff asked me to come back. That played a part in it. Just being able to do it, it’s cool to say that your name’s in the record book at Notre Dame, especially a prestigious program like this is. To be part of the history is extremely neat.”
You had a sack late where a blocker tried to take you out low and you kept going. Does knowing it could be your last game in Notre Dame Stadium give you extra juice to keep going late in a game like this?
“Any time you step on the field in Notre Dame Stadium you’re gonna go all out. That doesn’t change. That mindset doesn’t change. Just knowing that’s the type of player I am and I think that this defense is. You don’t stop on a play. You don’t quit on a play. Down-up is the way we call it as a linebacker. I got up and the guy was in front of me and I was able to make the tackle. I’m glad I could finish it this week. Last week I didn’t get to finish the sack. That was big time for me to get that one back.”
Any flashbacks to your high school days operating that fake punt?
“We’ve been working that a while. I kept reminding Coach Free, ‘Hey, I played triple-option quarterback in high school. I can do a reverse pivot.’ That’s something we practiced a lot. The reverse pivot blind handoff, that is a tough thing to do. I thought it worked really well. I don’t really know what the penalty was, but it was a lot of fun, one, practicing it, and getting to kinda relive those glory days back in high school.”
Is it just a bummer then when you see that flag? They took a long time to figure out what the penalty was.
“I don’t really know what happened. I just know I ran all the way down there, was freaking out, then I saw a flag and my heart sank. I don’t know. It was fun. It was certainly a fun play to do though.”
I know Coach Freeman preaches one play, one life. But now you’re two games from finishing the regular season. Can you block out what could possibly happen after that? Does your mind wander to playing a game in the snow here in December?
“You have to block it out. It’s one game, one life. One play, one life. The next two games are the biggest stretch of our lives. You gotta go all in no matter what. The future’s uncertain. Whatever happens happens. But knowing that you didn’t leave anything behind and you did everything you could, that has to be the mindset. We’ve been saying it on defense: all chips in. That’s just the mindset we have every day when we come to work. On a Tuesday, on a Wednesday — it doesn’t matter what day it is. You gotta be ready to give it your all, because you don’t know what the future holds.”
