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  • Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, left, celebrates with teammate Stephon Tuitt, right, and Bennett Jackson (2) after an interception against Oklahoma in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012. Notre Dame won 30-13. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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October 29, 2012

NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL: Irish opt out of Michigan series

Irish move up to No. 3 in BCS standings, No. 4 in polls after Oklahoma trip

By DAVID VANTRESS THE GOSHEN NEWS

GOSHEN — All season long, as the Notre Dame football team has risen in the FBC college football rankings — and recently entered the BCS rankings — coach Brian Kelly has preached to his team about ignoring the “noise” and focusing on the task at hand: Winning each week, and keeping their eyes on the ultimate prize: Playing for a national championship.

That noise is getting louder: After Saturday night’s 30-13 win over No. 8 Oklahoma, the Fighting Irish leaprogged two spots to No. 3 in the Week 3 BCS standings. They also rose  to No. 4 in both the AP and USA Today polls.

But Kelly and his staff plan to stay the course and keep the Irish on task.

“It will continue to get louder and louder, but I think we’ve already addressed it and we’ll continue to address it,” Kelly said Sunday during a conference call with the media.

“If they fall trap to that, they’ll lose. And I know this group does not want to lose any football games,” Kelly added.

“They’ve adhered to all of the things that we’ve asked them to do. We will continue to do that. But I think it’s important that you have to mention it every week, and you have to keep talking about it or you’re going to fall victim to that.”

Last week after the Irish’s win over BYU, Kelly was concerned a bit that his team wasn’t excited enough after a tough win.

There were no such concerns after Saturday night’s game.

“They were very excited about the win, but they felt really good about how they won the game. So it wasn’t a giddy group,” Kelly said.

“It was a group that felt like they had earned the win and celebrated accordingly. We got on the bus and we got on the plane, and you could barely hear a pin drop the guys were out sleeping. So you know when you gauge a win how your team reacts.”

Kelly also thought sophomore quarterback Everett Golson took a few more steps forward. Golson rushed 11 times for 66 yards and a TD, and completed 13-of-25 passes for 177 yards.

Kelly liked what he saw.

“He was certainly a young man that was full of excitement and confidence, got a chance to spend some time with him on the bus ride to the airport,” Kelly said.

“I think what we were most pleased with was he was smart and he was disciplined. Some of the things that we were talking about between the art and science of the position. He threw the ball away when he was under duress made good decisions. So I think he’s feeling pretty good today.”

Golson’s continued development, Kelly said, enables the Irish to diversity their offense and open up the playbook.

“What it allows us to do is to continue to be more balanced as an offense. I think we talked with some of the weaknesses we had on throwing the football, particularly on third down. We were much better in this game,” Kelly said.

“Again, I will tell you that some of the progress has been derailed by some injuries along the way. But the mental development has been really good. If we continue to go that way, it’s going to give us an offense that’s going to be difficult to defend because we’ll have great balance. That’s what we’re trying to get with Everett in there. Not an offense that throws it 50 times, nor an offense that runs it 50 times. One that is really balanced and more difficult to defend.”

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