Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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Plenty of Cougar fans are looking forward to seeing the historic sites at Notre Dame this weekend, but head football coach Bronco Mendenhall won't be joining them. After Tuesday's practice he reiterated that the team is making the trip to Indiana to play football, not sightsee.
Mendenhall acknowledged that the two church-affiliated schools have many similarities, including independence, and he values the relationship the two football programs have. While he looks forward to playing the Irish in coming years, he told the press there is no way to know if all of the schools' six contracted games will be played at this point.
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Mendenhall credited Notre Dame defensive standout Manti Te'o, as a "playmaker" and someone who stays very active in the middle of the field. Te'o is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but the Hawaii native ended up choosing to Notre Dame over BYU. BYU was considered one of the finalists in recruiting Te'o and Offensive Coordinator Brandon Doman remembers sitting in Te'o's home fighting for him right up until he made his decision. Doman said Te'o is the type of player the offense has to be aware of constantly.
You can hear the post-practice media sessions with Mendenhall, offensive coordinator Brandon Doman, and receivers Cody Hoffman and Ross Apo in "Cougar Cuts," above left.
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Even though Notre Dame is 25th nationally in rush defense, Doman hopes to establish a run game early. If not, the Cougars may be forced into throwing against the 14th best pass defense in the country. Doman is well aware it's going to take precise execution for his offense to compete against the stalwart defense of the Fighting Irish.
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Even though most players have downplayed the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in the shadow of the Golden Dome, wide receiver Cody Hoffman wasn't shy about addressing how special it is.
"It means a lot to me; as soon as I saw it on the schedule I was really happy with it," said Hoffman. "Because of all the history there and that movie (Rudy), it's always been one of my favorites. It's going to be a dream come true to play in that stadium."
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Hoffman addressed the lack of production from the rest of the receiving corps. He said they're working hard but as a whole the offense has been struggling. After showing strides of improvement against Oregon State scoring 24 points, Hoffman thinks the Cougars can hang with Notre Dame.
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One of the receivers struggling to put up numbers in 2012 is Ross Apo, who says he's putting in extra time after practice catching balls from both Riley Nelson and James Lark. He says the changes and struggles at the quarterback position have affected his productivity.
Apo is often targeted on the edge of the field and the ball isn't delivered with the consistency he'd like. "I have complete faith in him that he can get it out there Sometimes it doesn't happen and sometimes it does," Apo said.
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Saturday's game can be heard on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM, with pregame coverage starting at 9:00am with a special edition of Cougar Sports Saturday.
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