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SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame is prepared for its most physically demanding game when it kicks off against Navy at 2:30 p.m. today in Notre Dame Stadium.
While all teams play hard, players for the 19th-ranked Irish (6-2) said the Midshipmen (6-3) push the intensity level up a notch.
“It always just seems like with Navy there’s always that little something extra,” Notre Dame linebacker Scott Smith said. “We talked about how football is the easiest part of their day. The things they go through on a daily basis are probably way harder than what we go through here.
“That is the great equalizer to play with effort and just play hard. They do every snap, all 11 guys. The first thing you have to do is match how hard they play.”
Navy also will not quit.
The Midshipmen proved last year they will play until the final whistle when they nearly rallied from a 20-point deficit in the last minute and a half in Baltimore.
Navy scored with 1:39 to play to cut Notre Dame’s lead to 27-14. Then the Midshipmen recovered an onside kick to set up quarterback Ricky Dobbs’ heroics.
The junior, who has been in on seven plays the last two games but is expected to play today, completed a 40-yard pass and then ran in a touchdown from a yard out to pull within 27-21 with 1:21 to play.
Navy then recovered a second onside kick, but Notre Dame was able to hold the Midshipmen off to escape with a victory.
Notre Dame wasn’t able to hold off Navy two years ago, when the Midshipmen ended a 43-game losing streak to the Irish with a 46-43 triple-overtime victory in Notre Dame Stadium.
While it is a game many Irish players would rather forget, the loss in 2007 was a clear message that the Midshipmen cannot be overlooked.
“When you talk about going from whistle to whistle, they go from whistle to the end of the whistle,” Irish safety Kyle McCarthy said. “That is why we respect them so much. They give it everything they have.”
