SOUTH BEND – Dayne Crist isn’t taking anything for granted as Notre Dame works through its first spring football practice under new coach Brian Kelly.

Even though he is the only Irish quarterback with any Division I experience, the sophomore said he is competing for a job just like every other player.

“I haven’t earned anything,” said Crist, who is playing with a brace on his surgically repaired right knee. “This is a whole new regime, whole new staff. Guys’ mentalities have changed. I can’t assume anything. I have no sense of entitlement.”

It would be hard to blame Crist if he felt the starting quarterback position was his to lose, especially considering his competition in spring practice.

Behind him are Nate Montana, son of former Irish quarterback Joe Montana, who walked on at Notre Dame, then played last season at Pasadena (Calif.) City College and returned to the Irish this season, and Tommy Rees, a freshman who enrolled early to take part in spring practice.

But Crist’s career numbers are just as underwhelming as his competition. The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder played in four games last season before tearing his ACL in a 40-14 win over Washington State on Oct. 31. He completed 10 of 20 passes for 130 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

“Dayne’s only played a very little bit of football, I’m not ready to put him in the college football Hall of Fame,” Kelly said. “He’s got a little bit of work to do. He’s in a competitive situation. He’s got to go out and prove it.”

Crist has proved he is willing to put in the work to not just return from his injury but learn Kelly’s spread offense.

He has studied film of Cincinnati quarterbacks Tony Pike and Zach Collaros to pick up on the fast-paced offense that was last nationally in time of possession last season (25:46). He is also logging time on a video-game simulator that Kelly brought to the program to help players learn his schemes.

And while studying will make Crist a better quarterback, he is also working hard off the field because of a sense of obligation.

“If I’m not preparing as well as I could, I know I’m letting a hundred other guys down,” Crist said. “I can’t live with myself doing that.”

Notre Dame’s offense will not be able to thrive without Crist getting up to speed quickly. Kelly said he cannot set the offense until he gets a feel for what the quarterback can handle.

“Quarterbacks dictate how this offense runs,” Kelly said. “Everything runs through them. They set the protections, not the center. They call all the offensive line signals in terms of where they are sliding, where the gap is.

“This is a quarterback-driven offense. It’s impossible for me to say where we are going to be until I get a good feel for the quarterbacks.”

That responsibility is what motivates Crist to work so hard to understand what he needs to do when the season kicks off against Purdue on Sept. 4 at home.

“Knowing as hard as I work in the long run it’s going to pay off, that helps me to work a little bit harder and do as much as I can in terms of getting prepared mentally,” Crist said.

tkrausz@jg.net