The daylight's getting a little shorter, but they remember what you do in November.

Notre Dame has a lot in front of it.

This November, seeking a return trip to the college football playoffs.

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Hall of Fame in Northern Indiana Events Center in Elkhart, Indiana. I am John Bryce to my right, Drew Mentock, to my left. Tim O'Malley visited with a handful of Notre Dame players today as well as ever refreshing linebackers coach, Max Bullough. We will get there because it's worth it. But we will start with CJ Carr, the quarterback, Drew. You and I both got some time with CJ Carr today.

What stood out to you about where C.J.

Carr is mentally and where he feels like he is coming out of a much-needed open date.

Yeah, I wanted to ask him right about, like, you had to buy early in the year, but it was after week one.

He mentioned it came after a loss.

Like that was way different.

He stayed on campus.

He just went through his normal routine as best he could. This week, he went home. He went to his brother's high school football game. He's talked about how nice it was to not have to perform to have to deal with that pressure for the first time in a while. So we didn't necessarily say, like, I really needed this, but you could tell it was nice to kind of have that respite, giving everything he's kind of went through and then we kind of went into some of the specific maybe issues I asked him if his kind of errant throws early in the USC game if that anything to do with weather he said

flat out no that had nothing to do with weather and I threw the ball later in the game and then we also got

a little too about USC kind of playing zone

with two high safeties and the impact that had on him. And just him needing to really understand, like, okay, we're just going to hand it off. And he said, I was like, is it easy for you? And you have such a good deep ball to let that go? And he's like, well, no, because I force one and it turned into an interception so clearly I need to get better at that but he kind of you could

tell USC did some things and he kind of needed that break so we'll see how he kind of gets back to it against Boston college this weekend yeah Cj car continues to come into his own as very natural leader I appreciated the ownership that he took when you ask him the weather-related question for USC and he said no

I thought it was raining harder in the game later in the game and we threw the ball just fine one other note about getting to go home to saline michigan um i joked with him he said he had gotten to go watch his brother's high school football game and his brother's going to get his chance to play college football and i said well you your Notre Dame starting quarterback did you have to sign some autographs when you go back and he goes yeah actually I did but that community's been

great chance to play college football and I said well you your Notre Dame starting quarterback did you have to sign some autographs when you go back and he goes yeah actually I did but that community's been great to

me they support me so much I relish the opportunity to be back there another offensive person we got

to spend some time with today Tim O'Malley would be new starting center Joe Auding who I don't

think he ever stopped smiling it was for a guy who plays with that kind of nasty disposition, boy, he's got a pleasant smile. The shame Max Bullough was there because Joe Otting would have won the day if he could have. But, you know, one more thing about CJ Carr, I think he didn't have to sign too many autographs because he's already signed every autograph in sailing Michigan. Joe Otting, you know, he talks about how everybody supports him. It was a wonderful story about how he talks to his parents and how dad gives him a pep talk before every game. This pep talk wasn't that much different for USC because he wanted to keep it a little bit even keel. But just asking Joe Hoddy, what the moment's like when you get your first start and Jeremiah Love two snaps later is running through hole you provided. And then there's a touchdown after that.

He admitted, yeah, there was a surreal feeling. It's USC. The nerves are there. He joked that, you know, I saw him running past me, and I was like, you couldn't catch him. So that's a good thing for you, right, Joe? And he was just, I think, the happiest version of himself. and he also admitted it.

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