Memories from Kaipo-Noa

Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada remembered well his Navy-Notre Dame experience last year.
What stood out the most -- and it often does throughout the history of this series -- is the size of the Irish players versus that of the Navy players.
No one stood out more than former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn.
"I remember talking to Brady Quinn after the game," Kaheaku-Enhada said. "This dude's a monster.
"That dude is huge. I'm pretty sure he's bigger than our linemen. I'm pretty sure he is."
Kaheaku-Enhada also marveled at the respect level shown by Notre Dame's players toward Navy during the game. Of course, it could come from the fact that the Irish were expected to win big the past two years.
"No. 66 (Derek Landri), there was a couple times he picked me up and he said 'Don't worry, dude,' and tapped me on the helmet," Kaheaku-Enhada said.
One guy who Navy's quarterback will still face this year is Tom Zbikowski. Kaheaku-Enhada said it felt like Zbikowski, a fifth-year senior, has been around Notre Dame forever -- kind of how people felt Notre Dame basketball player Chris Thomas and Syracuse basketball player Gerry McNamara had somehow squeezed 10 years of eligibility into four.
"It feels like he's been there for 15 years," Kaheaku-Enhada said.
One thing Navy's players do feel is that they are playing for more than themselves. Alumni of the Naval Academy are different than that of Kentucky, Notre Dame or USC. Instead of cushy corporate careers, they head to the middle of oceans and to the Middle East.
So ending Navy's 43-game losing streak has another meaning.
"You always get e-mails and you talk about alumni talking about it," Kaheaku-Enhada said. "It's a motivational tool for us. We realize we're not only playing for ourselves but people in the fleet and people over in Iraq."
Guys at most other college football programs can't say that.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Jouranl Gazette