Sept. 29--SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Attention can beget a tension.
But Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly wasn't about to shun the attention this week's game at No. 12 Clemson brings with it. Cameras from ESPN and Showtime milled about campus Tuesday in anticipation of Saturday's matchup of top-12 teams in Death Valley, with which Kelly isn't familiar.
"I've never been there," Kelly said. "I don't know (about the atmosphere)."
But he can imagine the environment in what figures to be Notre Dame's biggest test yet. His intuition, based on experience of his teams playing at places such as Florida State, probably will prove correct.
"I would think that it's a raucous crowd like we have at our stadium," he continued. "I would think that a good football team makes it raucous. They have a good football team."
The sixth-year Irish coach's compliments didn't stop there -- he mentioned quarterback Deshaun Watson and receiver Artavis Scott as playmakers -- but he said there's a pretty simple solution to keeping his players from becoming unnerved.
"If you play well, you tend to quiet crowds down," he said.
No. 6 Notre Dame's preparation to attempt to do that began Tuesday evening with practices that will include a natural surface and unnatural noise to try to simulate game conditions.
Kelly, whose teams are 20-13 against Top 25 teams in his career, steered clear of typical coach-speak when he acknowledged that this game carries a bigger buzz than most.
"They know who they're playing and they know what they need to do," he said. "We want our guys to be enthusiastic ... and excited. Emotion drains you. So we're not a big fan of emotion."
Neither is Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who was matter of fact, if not cliche, in his assessment of the meeting's overall gravity.
"This game isn't any more important than Wofford or App(alachian) State or Louisville," he said. "Just because it's Notre Dame doesn't make it any bigger."
Swinney quickly backpedaled a bit, though. He made sure "Compliment Boulevard" wasn't a one-way street when citing Notre Dame as the winningest program in the history of college football -- the Irish rank second behind Michigan with 886 victories but first in winning percentage (.732) -- and saying his team would have to be at its best to be victorious.
"They are all big, but some games bring a little extra pizazz with them," Swinney said. "This is an outstanding football team; not a lot of weaknesses with them."
Injury updates: Kelly said receiver Corey Robinson, who tweaked his knee before Saturday's game against Massachusetts and did not play, is a "full go" for practice this week. ... Safety Tyler Luatua is going through concussion protocol and was schedule to participate in practice Tuesday, though it was noncontact. Kelly said if Luatua isn't cleared Wednesday, it's "unrealistic" that he would play Saturday.
pskrbina@tribpub.com
