Notre Dame went inside a stuffy Loftus Center for practice today. The typical dish:
- Brandon Erickson -- one of the bikers -- now has a boot on his left foot. D.J. Hord also remains.
- Fullback Asaph Schwapp returned to practice with a bulky brace on his left knee. He injured the knee during the Penn State game. When drills started, Schwapp joined the bike crew, but as media time ended, the sophomore trotted back out to the field.
- Bill Lewis was giving quite the inaudible tutorial to safety Ray Herring during stretching, so much so that he wasn't really stretching out his partner, Tom Zbikowski.
- Wide receivers coach Rob Ianello went through some sort of list with Rhema McKnight during stretching.
- Running back James Aldridge, as we reported yesterday, continues to make cutting movements. He's looking healthier and healthier.
- For some reason, Darius Walker goes last in many of the drills. It's a difference from other position groups, where the starter goes first.
- Being inside, the running backs created a human gauntlet using their hands to knock the ball out of the back's hands.
- Freshman center Dan Wenger still has a cast on his right wrist.
- In one catching drill, both Walker and fullback Ashley McConnell dropped passes in a row. Not really notable, just interesting that two in a row would drop.
- Running backs coach Michael Haywood told Munir Prince "You're starting to look like a player." Speaking of Haywood, he and ND media relations coordinator Brian Hardin got into an in-depth discussion of the Chicago Bears. Hardin came to Notre Dame from the Bears and Haywood coached their running back, Cedric Benson, at Texas.
- Charlie Weis ribbed sophomore receiver David Grimes: "I should start hanging out in the training room more, run some of you guys out of there."
Another side note. The Notre Dame-Navy game in Baltimore on Oct. 28 is sold out. You can, however, still pick up tickets for Navy's game this weekend against Tulsa at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Thought I'd pass this along, too. Ever hear of the giant Chad Johnson cutouts that can be placed on the wall, called Fatheads. Apparently, the company is now making a giant Notre Dame helmet you can adorn your wall with. Or maybe a counter. Check it out at www.fathead.com. Sorry ladies, no Quinn cutouts available.
One last thing for the people in San Antonio -- listen for me tomorrow morning on Ticket 760; Mornings with Charlie & Chance. I'll be on in the 9 a.m. hour CST.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette
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