Notre Dame Fighting Irish College Football Pregame Quote, 12/30/2024

Q. I was talking to Howard [Cross III] earlier in the week, and he mentioned that him, yourself, Rylie Mills, a lot of the older guys, especially on the defense, all kind of decided to come back together.

JACK KISER: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Q. Can you take me through those conversations you had almost a year ago, and how it’s kind of led you to this point?

JACK KISER: Yeah. I think no one wanted to be the guy to pressure the other guys to come back or make the initial decision, right? But it was kind of conversations, like, hey, what are you thinking? What are you thinking about doing?

And it was nice being able to bounce pros and cons off other guys in a similar situation. But, yeah, if you look at especially the four older guys, Rylie, Howard, X (Xavier Watts) and I, we’re a close group. And to be able to go through that together is ‚Äì it made the decision a lot easier.

And then ultimately, you look at the year we’ve had, and it’s been pretty exciting, and I think we made the right decisions.

Q. What were the conversations like? Did you guys envision this and envision this run?

JACK KISER: Yeah, we talked about, what is the roster going to look like? What is this team’s potential? And that, I think, ultimately was the decision maker right there, right? This team can be special. It felt like we had all the pieces kind of put in place.

And to know that if we come back, that gives Notre Dame a better chance of doing something special and doing something that hasn’t been done in a long time. That’s what we ultimately came to Notre Dame for, and give us one more year to finish the job. That’s what we wanted.

Q. You were part of that 2020 team that kind of had it go through your fingers. How much more meaningful is this, that first playoff win a week ago, and now the fact that you are able to compete in the Sugar Bowl?

JACK KISER: I think it shows a new era of Notre Dame football, and showing that hopefully we’ll be here to stay for a long time.

Like you said, I was here in COVID, and was able to be part of the 14 playoff, played a really good Alabama team. I think our program has elevated since then and become better in all different areas, but certainly on the field. And we’re excited to carry the momentum from last week into this game.

Q. Do you carry the momentum? Especially defensively, the way your defense played, what you did to their quarterback, how do you bring that into this one against an SEC team?

JACK KISER: When you look at our last game against Indiana, you see the ability to recognize what we saw on tape and use what we prepared all week for, and then execute in the game plan. You play fast, right? So I think you are able to see the hard work that you put in during the week, showing the game, and you can carry that into this, right?

So then you know exactly what your process needs to be this week. Exactly what we are looking for on tape and how to recognize it on the field, and that allows you to play fast, and that allows you to have fun and allows you to celebrate with one another. So just carrying that in, understanding and trusting in the process all week so you can go out on game day and have fun.

Q. I imagine you are really close with Rylie Mills. You are veterans on this team together. How is he doing? How is this defense kind of – it seems like people go down, and this defense just rallies.

JACK KISER: You look at some of the names who had season-ending injuries on the defense. Wow. What could have been if they hadn’t gotten injured, right? But you also look at the guys who stepped up. It’s been really impressive. You look at Leonard Moore playing an unbelievable season as a true

freshman and carrying the confidence every single week to go out there and compete with the best. That’s so impressive. As a Notre Dame fan, that’s awesome and so promising to see for the future.

But, yeah, being so close to Rylie, I’m frustrated for him. I’m disappointed for him. You can just see what a force he is on the field. To not have him, it’s tough, but at the same time, it gives an opportunity to someone else.

It gave [Gabriel] Rubio, Donny (Donovan) Hinish, how are they going to step up? What kind of games are they going to have? I’m certainly excited to see them.

Q. You call yourself a Notre Dame fan.

JACK KISER: Yeah.

Q. You are invested in building this program for the last six years. Like, to be here, especially as you are going out, how much does this mean to you?

JACK KISER: Yeah, I mean, for me, this was the number one reason I came back, right, to help Notre Dame get to something that hasn’t been done in a long time. And I understand the history of Notre Dame and the players that have been here before and the coaches and all the names. And so to be a part of this history now and almost restart the cycle or help create a new era, it’s something I’m going to carry with me for a long time. It’s very rewarding.

I think the cool part is I have been with the different head coaches. I have seen the transition. I have seen this new building being built, right, from the foundation up. And so it’s cool to ‚Äì like, yeah, I was part of a start of something, and that’s just a really cool feeling to have.

Q. You have to have a lot of pride in that.

JACK KISER: Yeah.

Q. And then like Notre Dame hasn’t been here on this stage as much in recent years but Georgia has.

JACK KISER: Yep.

Q. As a veteran, what is your message to the guys about that? How much do you think that will matter in this game?

JACK KISER: Yeah. When you look at a name of a school, that carries a lot. The name of Notre Dame carries a lot in terms of history of football in college football. Georgia certainly does too.

But I think you can’t always look at the past and say, this is what the present is, right? The present is different. What’s in the moment is different. So you just got to understand that this is not a Georgia team that has always been. Like, there’s new players. It is what it is. It’s not the same Notre Dame

team that’s always has been. It’s not your grandpa’s Notre Dame team. It’s not last year’s Notre Dame team. It’s a new team. Just understanding that and looking at the film and just be prepared to play and give it your best shot.

Q. What are the new challenges that their quarterback (Gunner Stockton) brings? I know you haven’t been able to watch a ton of film on him.

JACK KISER: Yeah.

Q. But he (Gunner Stockton) changes things a bit with his ability.

JACK KISER: Yes. Obviously, the SEC Championship game, we got film on that. And then there’s some snaps from earlier in the year. But, you know, Georgia is Georgia. They are not going to change their offense because of one guy.

They will add in different things, the read series, maybe a couple more QB draws. He’s a little bit more dynamic as an athlete. We just have to be ready for that and understand that there are more wrinkles than what you might see out of any other Georgia game.

Q. Knowing that he (Gunner Stockton) doesn’t have a lot of experience, does your approach against him change, like, light him up early? Try to rattle him in terms of the fact that he’s not that veteran guy who has been on this stage as much?

JACK KISER: Yeah, he’s not the veteran guy, but at the same time, he’s playing at Georgia. He’s their starting quarterback. He was a big-time recruit. I don’t think you can underestimate this dude at all.