McGlinchey Ready For Final Shot at USC
2009 was the last time Notre Dame and USC the battled for the Jeweled Shillelagh as ranked teams. Irish left tackle and captain Mike McGlinchey will suit up for the last time against the Trojans on Saturday, and he’s looking forward to the high stakes.
“This year there is a little bit more riding on it than previous years, but they have always been a great program, and they have a great team this year,” McGlinchey said on Wednesday evening. “We feel we do too, so it should be a hell of a game.”
The 6-foot-8, 315-pounder has embraced the rivalry since he was a little kid as he was a fan of the Irish growing up.
“There is so much history,” stated McGlinchey. “I grew up a Notre Dame fan. When I started watching football, Brady Quinn and Matt Leinart were going at it. It’s really exciting to be able to play in this kind of a rivalry game. We’re looking forward to the opportunity and hopefully getting a win.”
Notre Dame will get junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush back on the field Saturday night after missing the North Carolina game with a foot injury.
Sophomore quarterback Ian Book filled in and led the Irish to a 23-point win on the road against the Tar Heels, but the return of Wimbush means the heart and soul of the program is back leading the team once again.
“It’s huge,” McGlinchey said of Wimbush’s return. “Brandon has been our life and soul of this football team so far. Everything we do goes through him. He’s a great leader, person, and teammate. It means everything to us to have him on the field.
“He looks great. He looks like Brandon. You can’t really say much more than that. He’s going to do great things for us.”
Notre Dame hasn’t had a tough game since week two when they lost to Georgia by one point. Saturday’s game could come down to the wire and McGlinchey is confident the Irish can get it done if they stick to what they’ve been taught.
“It’s confidence, a willingness to focus when it’s important and a matter of demeanor that you know you’re going to get things done,” McGlinchey said of what it takes to win tight games. “It’s a matter of trusting everything you’ve done previously to get yourself and team to this point. We have to trust what we’ve been taught. We have to go back to basics and not let one play be bigger than another.
“We’ve been working since January to finish and dominate games. That’s what we hope to continue to do.”
The Irish haven’t pulled out a close game in quite some time, but they have been working on situational football each day in practice. It’s hard to duplicate all the factors that go into a close game. However, McGlinchey is confident his team is prepared to handle the pressure if it’s a close game on Saturday.
“You can’t recreate the emotion and that kind of stuff, but you can put yourself in as many similar situations as humanly possible,” McGlinchey stated. “We do that day in and day out. We’re ready for anything coming our way.
“Our coaching staff does a great job of getting us prepared. It’s about trusting what we’ve been taught and focusing on your job and what you’re supposed to be doing.”
USC enters Saturday’s game with a lack of depth on defense, and the defensive line is pretty banged up. The Irish know they can’t take the Trojan front seven lightly as they can confuse offensive lines with schematics.
“It’s pretty similar to what they’ve done,” stated McGlinchey. “They have always done different stuff and tried to confuse opponents by switching up the fronts. They have new players around and some old guys returning. We’ll be ready for whatever USC has to throw at us.”
To get a win on Saturday, Notre Dame will need to live up to the standards the program has set for itself. McGlinchey knows it’s a high bar, but its also why each player chose to come to Notre Dame in the first place.
“We define it by trying to be as excellent as we can be,” said McGlinchey. “The standard is set to be great. When you don’t live up to that, you have to look yourself in the mirror and go back to the drawing board.
“We’ve done a good job of playing to a standard that we’ve set. When we have dipped below it, we have been able to fight our way out. That’s what we hope to continue to do.”