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The build-up toward last year's undefeated regular season, coach Brian Kelly's track record and multiple strong recruiting classes all suggest that Notre Dame's 2012 renaissance was far from a one-year wonder.

Kelly has the Irish built to last, it would seem, and having eight starters return to a defense that finished second nationally in scoring in 2012 should only validate that.

But what about the other side of the ball? The Irish averaged just 25.8 points per game last season, tied for 78th nationally. But Insider's KC Joyner thinks the unit has the potential to develop into one of the best offenses in the country in 2013.

Notre Dame returns upward of six starters on offense, most notably quarterback Everett Golson. Joyner cites Golson's 1.6 percent mark last year in the bad decision rate (BDR) metric — which measures mental errors that lead to turnover opportunities for the defense — as a sign that he has a very bright future ahead of him. Granted, the Irish did not unleash the entire playbook with Golson at the helm last season, but he threw downfield better and better down the stretch, according to ESPN Stats & Information. And the 1.6 BDR mark is considered tremendous for a senior signal caller, let alone a redshirt freshman.

Of course, none of this will mean as much if the Irish do not up their productivity in the red zone, where their 48.3 percent touchdown conversion rate was good for just 112th nationally. They also ranked tied for 95th nationally in starting field position.

Joyner, nicknamed "The Football Scientist," argues that if the Irish had been merely average in both categories, they would have been far more productive offensively. And they are certainly expecting more than average from Golson this season as he takes the next step as the leader of the offense.

The post, which is on Insider , makes a number of valid points about why the Irish offense may finally be catching up to its defense, which could lead to more big things in 2013.

Notre Dame's 42-14 loss to Alabama in the Discover BCS National Championship provided a certain segment of the country the chance to rejoice in the familiar "S-E-C!" chants that reign every January. An entirely other segment, one that rejoices in the failing of all things Notre Dame -- and thus inadvertently fuels the surge that makes this program so darn popular in the first place -- bellowed that the Fighting Irish's 2012 regular season was the product of a weak schedule, bad officiating and, well, the luck of the Irish.

Brian Kelly's brief flirtation with the Philadelphia Eagles in the aftermath did not help matters. But once Kelly put the kibosh on the NFL and as the rest of the nation continued to mock the loss -- along with recycling every fake dead girlfriend joke imaginable in light of the Manti Te'o saga -- players and coaches inside the Guglielmino Athletics Complex put their heads down and went to work.

By the commencing of spring practice, Kelly was singing an entirely different tune.

"My comments after the game and my comments after I got a chance to watch the film were a little bit different," the fourth-year Irish coach said of the loss to the Crimson Tide. "I thought watching the game there were some things there that we weren't in a position yet to even come close to. But we're a lot closer than I thought."

That starts up front, where the Irish return two guys who will hear their names called on April 24, 2014 if they choose to enter the NFL. Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt are two of eight starters back on a defense that finished second nationally in scoring, and though it loses the Heisman Trophy runner-up in Te'o, it is every bit as talented, and even deeper, than last season's outfit.

Offensively, position battles waged at running back, center and right guard, with Everett Golson building off his first season in the driver's seat by bulking up, taking on more of a leadership role and understanding what did and didn't work during a campaign that ended with a national title game performance that wasn't exactly one to forget for the 20-year-old.

"For him, knowing Everett, it's just another day for him," offensive coordinator Chuck Martin said this spring of Golson's first and only loss. "He wasn't in awe of the moment, which is awesome. He played very well under a lot of duress for a lot of different reasons. The first guy you'd think would fold at 21-0 is your freshman quarterback in that moment. And he didn't, he kept competing, he kept fighting, he's getting better and better."

Just how much better Notre Dame can get after its best season in 24 years remains the question. The offense is still in search of playmakers in the backfield and at tight end. The defense loses the leadership of Te'o and Kapron Lewis-Moore. The schedule is roughly the same as 2012.

The Irish's most valuable lesson this calendar year came on Jan. 7, fueling a response in the months since of a program not content with being second-best.

"I think it's a very confident group of guys," Kelly said after the spring game. "They have got a lot of confidence in themselves. They believe that they are going to be successful. So I would say that the identity of this group right now is that they are a confident group. Now, we are going to have some tough times and we'll see how we bounce back from those.

"That's really the measure, right? Everybody is good when they are 0-0."

2012 record: 12-1

2012 conference record: N/A

Returning starters: Offense: 6; defense: 8; kicker/punter: 1

Top returners

QB Everett Golson, WR TJ Jones, WR DaVaris Daniels, LT Zack Martin, LG Chris Watt, RT Christian Lombard, DE Stephon Tuitt, NG Louis Nix, LB Dan Fox, LB Carlo Calabrese, LB Danny Spond, LB Prince Shembo, CB Bennett Jackson, CB KeiVarae Russell, S Matthias Farley

Key losses

RB Theo Riddick, RB Cierre Wood, WR Robby Toma, TE Tyler Eifert, C Braxston Cave, RG Mike Golic Jr., DE Kapron Lewis-Moore, LB Manti Te'o, S Zeke Motta

2012 statistical leaders (*returners)

Rushing: Riddick (917 yards, 5 TDs)

Passing: Golson* (187-of-318 for 2,405 yards, 12 TDs, 6 INTs)

Receiving: Eifert (685 yards, 4 TDs)

Tackles: Te'o (113)

Sacks: Tuitt* (12)

Interceptions: Te'o (7)

Spring answers

1. Golson in charge of offense. Now in his second year as the starting quarterback, Golson is in charge of what Brian Kelly hopes will become a quarterback-driven offense. Golson has been much more vocal on and off the field since the 2012 season, and the hope is that he can help the offense dictate the pace of the game week to week this fall.

2. Jarrett Grace ready to step up. Te'o leaves a giant hole in the middle of the Irish defense after three-straight 100-plus tackle seasons, but Grace looks ready to step in and assume the starting role. Will he notch seven interceptions this season, like Te'o in 2012? Unlikely. But the staff has liked his progress from the get-go, and he has not been fazed by all of the hoopla surrounding the "Mike" position since Te'o's departure.

3. DB depth. Last season, the Irish entered the fall with two new starting cornerbacks. By Week 3, they were down Lo Wood and safety Jamoris Slaughter because of Achilles injuries. This year Wood is back, as is safety Austin Collinsworth, adding plenty of depth to a secondary that returns three starters. It will give the defense much more flexibility after the unit broke in three new starters in 2012. Several talented safety recruits are on the way, too.

Fall questions

1. Backfield answers. George Atkinson III is the most experienced of the backs, bulking up this offseason and readying for the closest thing to a No. 1 role that the Irish offense allows. Cam McDaniel has been reliable in limited action, and USC transfer Amir Carlisle impressed the staff before going down with another injury, this time a broken collarbone that kept him out for most of the spring. There is Will Mahone and a pair of four-star recruits on the way as well, but the bottom line is that none have handled a majority of the carries at the college level yet and are filling big shoes from last season in Riddick and Cierre Wood.

2. Receiver depth. Davonte Neal and Justin Ferguson transferred this spring, leaving the Irish with a bit of a numbers issue. C.J. Prosise has converted to a full-time receiver and could compete for the starting slot role for 2013, but a group already down four of its top six pass-catchers from 2012 can ill-afford another injury or defection, and will likely need some early production from a talented group of freshmen.

3. Defensive leaders. This isn't necessarily an issue so much as an unknown. Last year's three seniors were tremendous vocal presences, helping the defense become greater than the sum of its parts in finishing second nationally in scoring. This year's unit could be deeper and more talented, and if it can work together like last year's, it could see similar success in 2013. Jackson, Farley and Nix figure to emerge as front-runners for defensive captain spots this fall.

Nice to see you, May.

• Forgot to link to this over the weekend, but best wishes to ESPN's Digger Phelps, as the former Irish men's hoops coach has bladder cancer.
• IrishIllustrated.com's Pete Sampson says that Everett Golson is settled at Notre Dame without being comfortable. (Subscription required)
• Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel says that Manti Te'o gets a chance at a fresh start with the Chargers.
• So much for San Diego going easy on Te'o.
• Notre Dame is fifth in the latest Directors' Cup standings.

Between Manti Te'o's 2012 run and Jadaveon Clowney's 2013 promise, so much of the conversation surrounding the Heisman Trophy has been the seemingly inevitable moment when a pure defensive player will capture the trophy. Te'o was the closest to ever do it, gaining 321 first-place votes and 1,706 points in losing to Johnny Manziel in 2012. And Clowney's monstrous hit of Michigan's Vincent Smith in the Outback Bowl has set the stage for a season in which Clowney will likely have the opportunity to play himself into serious Heisman contention.

But the award has still belonged to players on the other side of the ball, and a recent well-regarded preseason watch lists only re-affirms that.

The Heisman Pundit, Chris Huston, has released his initial 30-man watch list for the 2013 award, and Notre Dame has one representative on it: Everett Golson.

Golson enters his third year at the school and second year as the starter, this after a 12-1 season that saw him amass 2,703 yards of offense, score 18 total touchdowns, complete 58.8 percent of his passes and turn the ball over 10 times.

The Irish return eight starters from what was the nation's second-best scoring defense in 2012, including potential first-round picks Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt, but the quarterback is the man that has the chance for the biggest spotlight.

In fact, Clowney is the only defensive player among the 30 listed on the watch list, as there are 19 quarterbacks, eight running backs and two wide receivers.

Video had surfaced this offseason of Clowney sacking Golson on the first play of the 2010 South Carolina High School League AAA title game, a game that Golson's Myrtle Beach team ended up winning. Golson, much more comfortable entering his second season in the spotlight, gave a confident and complimentary answer when asked early this spring if he was quietly rooting for the fellow Palmetto State native to win the Heisman in 2013.

"I hope he does, but at the same time, I think I'm pushing for the same thing," Golson said. "I know it's maybe a goal some may say is a little bit far-fetched, but I want to be the best competitor I can be. So I want to see him do great, but I also want to be there at the same time."

As for other familiar names on Huston's list? Oklahoma's Blake Bell, Michigan's Devin Gardner, Stanford's Kevin Hogan and USC's Marqise Lee are all players Notre Dame will face this year. Miami's Duke Johnson, Alabama's A.J. McCarron and T.J. Yeldon, meanwhile, all played against the Irish last season.

Notre Dame is what we thought it was. Well, at least based on pre- and post-spring evaluations.

Colleague Mark Schlabach has released his latest version of too-early Top 25 rankings for the 2013 season, and the Irish check in at No. 10 following a spring that saw three players transfer, a second-year starting quarterback continue his growth and a defense plug in newcomers and develop depth at key positions following the graduation of three starters.

From Schlabach's story:

Previous rank: 9

The Fighting Irish went into spring practice looking for more offensive playmakers, after they averaged only 25.8 points during their 12-1 season in 2012. Quarterback Everett Golson made some strides as a passer, but the Irish are still looking for a dependable tailback and still haven't shored up the middle of their offensive line. Notre Dame lost starting center Braxston Cave and right guard Mike Golic Jr.; Conor Hanratty and Mark Harrell are battling for the guard spot, while Nick Martin and Matt Hegarty are competing at center. George Atkinson III left spring as the No. 1 tailback, but he'll be pushed in the fall by incoming freshmen Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston. The Irish will probably again be carried by their defense, so it had to be promising to see junior Jarrett Grace step into the inside linebacker spot vacated by All-American Manti Te'o.

The formula for these rankings actually takes into account who has the easiest path to run the table in 2013. And the Irish certainly have their challenges, though not unlike the ones they faced in running the regular-season table last season. (Despite hearing about their perceived 2012 slate, rightly or wrongly, after the Alabama game.)

Speaking of the Crimson Tide, there is a new No. 1 in Schlabach's rankings: Ohio State.

The Buckeyes have yet to lose a game in the Urban Meyer era, will likely be only better in Year 2 and play in a Big Ten conference that does not seem to have a legitimate No. 2 to pose as a threat to the Bucks. OSU avoids Nebraska and Michigan State in 2013, and the nonconference schedule consists of Buffalo, San Diego State, California and Florida A&M.

Irish rivals Stanford and Michigan come in near the top of Schlabach's rankings, at Nos. 5 and 9, respectively. Oklahoma and USC, other 2013 opponents, are at Nos. 17 and 23, respectively.

With the college basketball season in the books, College Football Live embarked on its Spring Bus Tour, visiting eight schools. Today is the final stop, checking out the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame had a nearly perfect season that will likely be remembered best for one really imperfect night.

The Irish were unbeaten up until the Discover BCS Championship, a run during which they had narrow victories over Stanford, Pittsburgh and USC.

This is the final year of Notre Dame’s full independence, as the Irish will start playing five games per year against the ACC starting in 2014. Many rivalries will end or become less frequent, including this year’s final trip to Ann Arbor before the Michigan series ends in 2014.

The Irish will lose some key players, most notably tight end Tyler Eifert and linebacker Manti Te'o.

A third straight top-10 recruiting class (No. 4 according to ESPN) includes four players in the top two at their position, most importantly No. 2 running back Greg Bryant.

Notre Dame will look to maintain a defense that was (until the BCS title game) on pace to have the lowest opponents' touchdown percentage on red zone possessions of any FBS defense in the last eight seasons.

The Irish allowed only eight red-zone touchdowns in the regular season, but yielded five to Alabama.

One of the things to watch will be the continued development of quarterback Everett Golson.

Golson completed 61 percent of his passes of 10 yards or longer in his final four games of the season. He had at least seven completions on passes of this distance in each of those games. In his first eight games, Golson had only two such games.

Away from the snow ... hopefully.

• Athlon Sports' Braden Gall looks at the top 10 Notre Dame teams of all time.
• CBSSports.com's Bruce Feldman says that the Irish will be in his preseason top 10.
• Everett Golson and the offense are searching for the next step, JJ Stankevitz writes on CSNChicago.com.
• Matthias Farley's leadership is more magnified than ever, Bill Beck writes in the Elkhart Truth.
• The Post-Tribune's Mike Hutton says the Irish offense is still trying to get up to speed.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Big Louis Nix entered the media room in Notre Dame Stadium and was immediately intercepted by sports information director Michael Bertsch.

"You know quarterbacks go to the podium," Bertsch said.

Up Nix went to the center of the cramped room, facing a throng of media members who generally hang on his every word anyway, given the fourth-year junior's penchant for saying whatever in the world is on his mind at that moment.

One such instance came early in the 2012 season, when Nix explained how younger brother Kenneth, one of his 13 siblings, had told classmates during a presentation in Jacksonville, Fla., that his big brother was the Fighting Irish's quarterback.

Nix had no idea where that idea came from, but then joked that he would love to be inserted as a Wildcat-only signal caller in the "Irish Chocolate" package, an ode to his nickname.

His dream came to fruition during the fourth quarter of Notre Dame's Blue-Gold spring game Saturday before 31,652 fans, as Nix lined up in the backfield for a two-point conversion following the game's only touchdown. He took the shotgun snap and galloped into the end zone untouched for the score, continuing the roll he has been on in the past year.

"I really am a quarterback," Nix said. "I told you guys it would happen and it did."

That was Louis Nix being Louis Nix; as he provided a refreshing spark to a ho-hum exhibition on a 38-degree April afternoon. He was Notre Dame's best defensive player on the nation's biggest stage this past Jan. 7 against Alabama, and he was the anchor of a defense that happened to feature the Heisman Trophy runner-up.

By playing even bigger than his out-sized personality -- a trait that turned his every word into a soundbite and made his video news series a YouTube sensation -- Nix faced a decision that would have changed the lives of everyone back inside his family's three-bedroom home.

Last spring Nix publicly expressed feelings of homesickness, as he fell into a rut and lost his spot on the first team to Kona Schwenke. But the film, television and theatre major thought back to senior night four years ago at Raines (Fla.) High School, when he was the only player who took the field without a loved one. His mom, Stephanie Wingfield had a shift at a hospital cafeteria that night and cried when she found out her son had taken the field alone. She begged him to stay in college, earn his degree and celebrate senior day with her.

The decision to stay ensures that the senior day moment will happen. The play that highlighted Saturday's scrimmage served as proof that he is on the right track in the classroom.

Nix's two-point conversion was the result of an academic wager he made with head coach Brian Kelly, who credited the conversion to offensive coordinator Chuck Martin and his new responsibilities as play-caller heading into the 2013 season.

"He surprised me, and so I paid up," Kelly said of Nix. "I said, 'What do you want?' I figured he would want something. He came up: 'I want to score a touchdown in the spring game.' As you know, we had a hard time scoring touchdowns in the spring game and I didn't think that was going to come to reality."

So Nix went up to quarterback Malik Zaire with 14:05 left in the contest, ordering the early-enrollee to get him to the promised land. Six plays and four minutes, 55 seconds later, C.J. Prosise was in the end zone with a 35-yard touchdown reception, allowing the blue-jerseyed Nix to step into the huddle with his white-jerseyed teammates. It set off a minor social media celebration of a FAT GUY TOUCHDOWN. (Or, in this case, a FAT GUY CONVERSION.)

Is this something Temple needs to scheme against come the teams' Aug. 31 opener?

"That's what all teams need to be scared of. Everybody needs to be scared of Irish Chocolate," Nix said.

"Everyone," he continued, staring at the reporter who had inquired, "including you."

The defense charged with stopping the play certainly seemed scared, though it adjusted enough to keep the new quarterback from beating them with his arm.

"I just made a few checks or whatever. You couldn't hear them. They were silent checks," Nix said. "I just told them where to line up, give me a nice pass-block. My O-line did a great job, that's why I was successful."

Or simply because he looked up, stared at nothing but daylight and entered a state of shock, with linebacker Kendall Moore getting the heck out of the way once Nix committed to running straight ahead.

"I saw fear in his eyes," Nix said of Moore.

George Atkinson III said afterward that Everett Golson should worry about losing his job. Fellow defenders expressed relief that they will never have to face Nix again.

But that might not be the case, not if Nix continues to ride this surge.

"It's a dream of mine to happen [in a game], hopefully it does -- hopefully Coach thinks I can handle the ball," he said.

"I'm 305 right now," the listed 347-pounder deadpanned. "If I gain a few pounds, maybe he'll just hand me the ball off."

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — With his first spring as The Guy at Notre Dame winding down, Everett Golson is scaling back.

He has had to do this before, whether it was relearning a few things after a rocky home debut last season or spending more time in the athletic trainer's room than he would have liked after his relatively small frame took too many hits throughout 2012.

But with Season 1 as Notre Dame's starting quarterback in the rear-view mirror, with the experience of a national title game under his belt and with outside starting threat Gunner Kiel off to Cincinnati, Golson, at times, simply has not stopped talking.

Now the fun begins for the Fighting Irish offense, a unit that faces at least the possibility of having the same man directing it for 39 more games, this after each of coach Brian Kelly's previous three springs with the program began with quarterback uncertainty.

"I don’t know that you could even put him in the same category with where he started last year to where he is now," Kelly said of Golson. "Strong command of our offense. I think where we’re at with him more than anything else is we have to now begin to pull back a little bit. He wants to do a little bit too much. He knows his toolbox very well. He didn’t know anything relative to what he had for tools last year in terms of what he could do with the offense.

"Now, he wants to maybe do a little too much, so we’re at a totally different point in his development. I think the thing that stands out the most to me, though, is his command. His communication and command and his leadership has been evident as we started spring ball."

Whereas Golson entered last spring as one of four candidates fighting for the starting job, this year, he is being more assertive, taking coaching better and strengthening his relationship with position coach Chuck Martin by exchanging calls and texts or by shooting around on the basketball court when time allows for it.

Golson is becoming a more vocal presence on the field, and he is making the leap in what Kelly hopes will eventually be a quarterback-driven offense.

Notre Dame finished 80th nationally in scoring offense last season, getting to 12-1 in large part on the back of the nation's No. 2 scoring defense and by minimizing the turnover chaos that had plagued it a season earlier.

"I think for me personally it's more on us, just because I expect more of us," said Golson, who netted 2,703 total yards, 18 touchdowns (12 passing, six running) and 10 turnovers while completing better than 58 percent of his throws last season.

"Last year, 2012, we didn't really make our mark. You can kind of blame it on excuses -- it was our fist year going through it -- but at the end of the day, we didn't do our job. So that's definitely an emphasis for me personally to make this offense better and have a better season."

Fifth-year left tackle Zack Martin said of Golson: "Every week he was better, and better not only on the field but in practice with the offensive line, with the other receivers. That's the stuff we see from him on a consistent basis now. We expect Everett to be out front, telling the offense what to do. We expect him to be out there, and he's done a great job this spring."

Golson was listed at 185 pounds last season but was likely 10 or so pounds lighter by the end of the season. Bulking up was deemed a point of emphasis in the months after the Jan. 7 title-game loss to Alabama and a 94-carry season. The third-year sophomore is currently listed as nine pounds shy of the goal of 195.

With Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix back for their fourth seasons, Golson knows there is little time to rest on his laurels, especially after an inaugural starting campaign that saw him get yanked three different times, leave another game with a concussion -- which forced him to miss the next game -- and miss the first series of one more contest because he was late for a meeting.

Golson might not be looking over his shoulder the way he had to a season ago, but that does not make him any less cognizant of what he has to do moving forward.

"I don't think I necessarily think about that a lot," he said. "The No. 1 [position] is only good for so much. You go out there and throw a couple picks, who knows? Maybe it's another controversy again and your job is back up. So my thing was I'll never be complacent. I never want to get complacent. Just always stay hungry and stay driven, and that's how I kind of went through this whole process."

Matt Fortuna says Everett Golson has gained the most this spring, solidifying his grip on the starting quarterback job at Notre Dame.

Let's decry the one-and-done rule ... and then decry Marcus Smart for not taking advantage of it!

• Denard Robinson's pass with Notre Dame in the building went much better this time around, colleague Michael Rothstein writes.
• Everett Golson's piano playing in this video is garnering some national steam.
• BlueandGold.com's Wes Morgan catches up with Cam McDaniel via video.
• Matthias Farley feels more at home at safety this year, Lamond Pope writes in the Chicago Sun-Times.
• Bill Scholl, formerly of the Notre Dame athletic department, is finding success in his first year as Ball State's AD, Thomas St. Myer writes in the Indianapolis Star.

Enjoy the weekend.

Steve from Wishing Waters, Ariz., writes: Hello, Matt. My name is Steve. My question for your amusement is this: Which freshman receiver has the best chance to make an immediate impact, and possibly start since day 1? With the departure of young Neal and young Ferguson, someone should have potential, am I right? Steve, out

Matt Fortuna: Steve, I think both James Onwualu and Corey Robinson will see the field this year, and I think Robinson will have the chance to make a number of big plays. He has great speed on the perimeter and nice hands. At 6-foot-4-and-a-quarter, it is easy to see him become a red-zone target this season for the Irish.

---

Alex Ballentine from New Philadelphia, Ohio, writes: Hey Matt, despite being a TCU fan, I am still an avid reader of your blog. I appreciate your contributions to society. As a matter of fact, my friend and colleague, Bronson from New Philadelphia, Ohio wrote you a question a few mailbags ago. My question is about the offense. I've been hearing that Everett Golson has been getting bigger and stronger this offseason and has been progressing very nicely. Assuming he continues to develop in the mental aspect of the game, do you see Brian Kelly tweaking the offense and running a faster tempo like he did in his Cincinnati days? Thanks in advance.

Matt Fortuna: Thanks for the kind words, Alex. How do you end up as a TCU fan living in Ohio? I think the offense will go as Golson goes as it relates to speed, and I think that's part of the reason so much was put into him last season. He is unquestionably the quarterback of the future and has the best improvisational skills on the team. Becoming more durable will be essential with so much time left for him to see on the field, and I think he is the guy that Kelly sees as eventually getting Notre Dame's offense to the pace he wants it to be.

---

Steven from Miami writes: Matt, always enjoy your insight and comments. It seems that Notre Dame and NBC have completed their contract negotiations at least 18 months in advance of the TV contract expiring. In fact Swarbrick indicated mid last year and again in January of this year that the deal was within 30 days. What is status? Has Notre Dame association with ACC and ESPN holding this up...does Notre Dame take opportunity to go out and freelance for first time in many years insofar as TV contract. I look forward to your response. Steve

Matt Fortuna: Thanks, Steven. While nothing has been signed or announced in the time frame that Jack Swarbrick originally gave back in the summer, the program has always said it has every intention to re-up with NBC. They said the delay at the time was more a matter of creating new platforms for the program to showcase itself, and other supplementary matters. Given the way last season went, it's probably a good thing that the Irish did not sign anything last summer, as its value has only risen.

Mike Rice's last game ever? A loss to Notre Dame.

• IrishIllustrated.com's Jack Freeman has video of outside receivers coach Mike Denbrock, who is searching for options among a short-handed group.
• Nick Martin has taken the early lead in the battle at center, JJ Stankevitz writes on CSNChicago.com.
• Notre Dame might have found a new "Mike" linebacker in Jarrett Grace, Rachel Terlep writes in the Elkhart Truth.
• Notre Dame's returning safeties find their roles expanded, Tony Krausz writes in the (Fort Wayne) Journal-Gazette.
• BlueandGold.com's Lou Somogyi says Everett Golson is primed for a new phase.

Braxston Cave, weighing in on Tuesday's national news.

• Cave also didn't think highly of Jay Hayes' Monday joke.
• Expect a more aggressive Everett Golson in 2013, Pete Sampson writes on IrishIllustrated.com.
• Notre Dame is building depth on its D-line, Lou Somogyi writes on BlueandGold.com.
• Brian Kelly is taking a page out of Alabama's playbook to fix Notre Dame's special-teams woes, Andrew Gribble writes on AL.com.