Drayk Bowen, Jeremiyah Love Keep Notre Dame Grounded Amid Playoff and Heisman Buzz

College football has officially entered talking season.

November brings meaningful games, award debates and the unveiling of the College Football Playoff rankings every Tuesday night.

If you’re a top 25 team, the noise gets loud. If you’re a top 10 program, it’s even louder. 

Notre Dame is always a topic of great interest. BYU fans came at Notre Dame a week ago and this week it’s Texas Tech. 

The Fighting Irish are used to being in the spotlight. College Game Day showing up in Pittsburgh isn’t a big deal. They’ve been through it and know that nothing from the set impacts what happens on the field. 

One can block out the noise all they want, but every player still sees it. It’s impossible not to know where your team sits in the playoff rankings. It’s all over Twitter. The Notre Dame social media accounts and everyone else blast it out. 

Notre Dame linebacker Drayk Bowen has been through this. The Irish have been in the playoff hunt at some point during his first three seasons on campus. 

This year is different as he’s a captain and Bowen is the one expected to lead Notre Dame through the distractions outside The Gug. 

“For me, it doesn't really matter because if you lose, you're done,” said Bowen. “It's something where it's always we just got to get better today, tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, and then you go out and perform on Saturday.” 

The win-or-go-home mindset has carried over to his teammates. Notre Dame knows what’s on the line and keeping a daily focus is the key. 

“That's kind of been the way that I've been thinking and I know a lot of our team has as well,” explained Bowen. “We've got to get better today and just keep getting better as we go.” 

Bowen’s other job is to implement Marcus Freeman’s message into the locker room each week. 

This week's message centers on embracing the struggle. Notre Dame is well aware of the post-Navy hangover for defenses, the challenge of going on the road and how important Saturday’s game is to reaching its goal. 

“It's not easy,” explained Bowen. “You've got class. It's cold. You've got meetings. There's snow on the ground, so you're not always going to want to practice, but you have to be grateful and struggle to get what you want on Saturday.” 

Team glory is a pillar of the Notre Dame program, but there is also an elephant in the room and it’s called the Heisman Trophy. 

Junior running back Jeremiyah Love is a candidate for college football’s most prestigious award and Notre Dame has started a campaign for the St. Louis native. 

Does Love care about individual glory? Not really. 

“I don't really care too much about anything, really,” stated Love. “But obviously, when you see good things being said about you, it feels good to be able to read that stuff and see it, but it’s pretty easy to block out stuff, good and bad."

It’s impossible for Love not to see it as he lives in the world of hype every day. There are more national interviews and more social media posts, but he’s quick to credit his teammates, as they’ve helped him get the recognition. 

"I try to just keep everything as straight as possible,” Love explained. “I have to finish the rest of the season and perform good. Hopefully, I have a chance at going to New York and winning the Heisman.

“I definitely see stuff. It's good to see. It's also a tribute, the buzz, as to us doing good as a program in general. At the end of the day, it's a team sport. The performances that I go out there and have are not really just because of me. It's because of the whole team that's playing complementary football. So it's great to see, but I got to finish the rest of the season."

And if Love does win the Heisman, he believes it would be a team award. 

“The Heisman goes to, I believe, the best player in the country or whatever it may be,” said Love. “I feel like whoever wins the Heisman, you can attribute that to them having probably one of the best teams in the country. That's what it means to me.” 

Want the latest scoop on the Fighting Irish? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Classic Laptop Sleeve