Barry Sanders, Christian McCaffrey bring pro pedigree to Stanford"s backfield
Notre Dame has made it to the final week of its regular season with just one loss, a two-point defeat at Clemson.
The Tigers just happen to be the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff rankings.
The Irish (10-1) have two wins against teams currently in the top 25, beating No. 15 Navy and No. 25 Temple. They close the regular season against another ranked team, No. 9 Stanford (9-2).
Does Notre Dame believe a win against the Cardinal would be enough to secure one of the four playoff spots?
"Yeah, we do," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said earlier this week. "But again, we don"t control that. There"s a committee that makes those decisions. All we can do is control the way we perform and the way we prepare.
"And they know that. Our guys clearly understand what they have to do in their preparation and then their performance on Saturday. And that"s it. The rest is up to a committee, and we knew that coming into the season. We"ll take care of what we can take care of."
Kelly"s comments came before the Irish dropped two spots to No. 6 in the rankings. But the sentiment remains. Notre Dame"s hopes for a playoff berth could come down to stopping Stanford"s Christian McCaffrey.
The sophomore running back has become a factor in the Heisman race.
"He"s a guy that can influence the game in special teams, catching the ball out of the backfield, certainly running the football," Kelly said. "Special, special player and deserving of all the accolades he"s gotten. We"ve got our hands full there."
McCaffrey has 1,546 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season. He"s caught 34 passes for 416 yards and three TDs. And he"s returned 26 kicks for 813 yards and one TD.
"What he did against UCLA, what he did against Cal, what he did a couple of games earlier in the year, he took over the game," Stanford coach David Shaw said. "It"s amazing to see."
McCaffrey set a Stanford record with 389 all-purpose yards last week in a win against California. He"s rushed for at least 100 yards for nine straight games, including a school-record 243 yards against UCLA on Oct 15.
"Every time we needed something, he was the guy," Shaw said. "That"s what big-time players do. You run out of adjectives to describe him. You sit there and say "wow." He"s that good that he can take over any game we play."
Notre Dame is calling on its veterans to do likewise Saturday.
"I need to remind them that in big games, the great players rise to the occasion," Kelly said. "And so (receiver) Will Fuller has to play great. (Linebacker) Jaylon Smith"s got to play great. (Defensive lineman) Sheldon Day has got to play great. (Offensive lineman) Ronnie (Stanley) has got to play great.
"The great players have to step up. And for us to win, they"ll have to play great. If they do, we will. If they don"t, we won"t. It"s that simple."
lpope@post-trib.com
Twitter @lamondpope
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-football-notre-dame-st-1126-20151125-story.html
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