With the weather fairly crummy outside, Notre Dame moved its Tuesday practice inside the Loftus Center, which has FieldTurf:
- Junior linebacker Anthony Vernaglia returned to practice, although during the media's viewing time he rode the bike. Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said Vernaglia will not play Saturday as he recovers from a knee injury.
- Quarterbacks coach Peter Vaas had an extended conversation with quarterback Brady Quinn during the stretching period.
- The CSTV crew calling the game -- Tom Hart and Trev Alberts -- were at Notre Dame all day and took in a small part of stretching before leaving Loftus.
- D.J. Hord and Brandon Erickson both rode the bike during drills, as has been their custom all season.
- Sophomore fullback Asaph Schwapp was not at practice.
- The defensive backs worked on stopping the option Tuesday, much like they did during Navy week. Senior safety Tom Zbikowski seemed especially sharp in his reads. Sophomore cornerback Terrail Lambert did get caught up in the blocker/quarterback on one repetition. But it's still Tuesday.
- The running backs seemed to struggle catching passes during a drill Tuesday. Freshman Munir Prince dropped two in a row and freshman James Aldridge also struggled a littlebit, prompting running backs coach Michael Haywood to clap intensely and bark "Come on James, you gotta go. You gotta loosen up."
We spotted junior running back Darius Walker eating at the new Chipotle on Main Street today. He sat in a corner table with two other people and seemed to be left alone for most of his meal until three older ladies spotted him, asked him to sign a napkin and took a picture with Walker. That's how it goes in South Bend/Mishawaka sometimes.
Don't forget about the Air Force-ND prediction contest. Send your guesses to mrothstein@jg.net.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette
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