Notre Dame Looking For Signature Win As Clemson Needed In 2015

‘Clemsoning’ was a thing before Notre Dame's trip to Death Valley in 2015. The Tigers won on a super wet night and haven't looked back. 

No. 4 Notre Dame enters Saturday's showdown with No. 1 Clemson in a similar position as the Irish need a win over an elite program to send a message to the world of college football and recruits. 

Brian Kelly might not have DeShaun Watson, but Notre Dame will need to do what Clemson did in 2015 to the Irish. 

Win the line of scrimmage. 

"We want to be who we are," Kelly said on Thursday afternoon. "We've defined through the first six weeks we want to play a physical brand of football. That's who we are. We want to take shots down the field. We've got to get some 1-on-1 matchups to allow our bigger-bodied receivers and tight ends to be part of this offense." 

Notre Dame will rely on its top 10 (out of those who have played more than three games) rushing attack to control the trenches against one of the country's top rushing defenses. 

It sounds risky, but the hype of being the best offensive line in the country has the chance to turn into a reality. 

"At the end of the day, this is about four quarters of physical presence with our offense," explained Kelly. "That's kind of how we've played football this year. You don't start changing who you are at this time, so you can expect us to play physical. We have to make some plays on the perimeter with our receivers and tight ends, but this game is going to come down to our ability to win at the line of scrimmage."

The Irish controlled the trenches against Pitt, who comes the closest to Clemson's front in the ACC and while it wasn't an outburst on the ground, Kelly was pleased with the efficiency. 

"Running the ball is about run efficiency," Kelly stated. "Run efficiency is 3rd-and-short. We're outstanding and one of the best in the country. The ability to run the football to set up playaction pass and having that presence when a team like Pitt that is built to play nine guys at the line of scrimmage. We took shots down the field. 

"Good coaching and execution is based upon what a defense is doing as well. You can say we ran the ball effectively against a nine-man front, what does that mean? It means you ran the ball for 7 minutes and 52 seconds to end the game when they knew you were going to run it. 

"I don't know how else to evaluate a run game other than to say when we had our second offense out there and they had their first defense, we ran the ball for 7 and half minutes." 

If the Irish can run the ball and control the clock, Clark Lea's defense will give Notre Dame a shot to upset the top-ranked Tigers, which is an opportunity in itself. 

"We haven't had many of these opportunities at home," Kelly said. "This is the second time we've played a top 10 team at home. The last time we did, we took it to Stanford pretty good. Let's play the same way against Clemson. Let's play physical for four quarters. You don't get many of these opportunities and recognize you gave yourself this opportunity. 

"Nobody would be making anything of this game if you had lost a game or weren't relevant. It's a privilege to play in these games. There's no pressure. Play to a standard and you have to play great football against a great opponent. We know that. Enjoy it. You put yourself in this position and you've been here only one other time at home and you handled yourself really well. Let's go do it again." 

And yes, Kelly also has a message for his offensive line as they try to take an early lead for the Joe Moore Award. 

"It's four quarters," said Kelly. "The most important thing here is this is going to be a battle of wills. Our guys have done a great job of playing for four quarters, battling and taking over in the fourth quarter, exerting their will. 

"It's been about talking about we're not going away from playing physical and running the football. This is going to fall a lot on their shoulders and they're excited about the opportunity they have to control a lot as to what's going on with our success. 

"These are the kind of games offensive linemen love."