UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 5, 2022

Michael Mayer

Press Conference

Notre Dame 35, Clemson 14

Q. Mike, I noticed on the field there you looked like -- was that your brother that you shared a moment with?

MICHAEL MAYER: I can't hear you. They're crazy out there.

Q. I'm sure among the many moments you shared with people out there, was your brother among the moments out there? What did that mean to you?

MICHAEL MAYER: It was awesome to have my brother here. Playing at Arkansas State this year for a fifth year and this is their bye week. For him to be able to come this game, I think is his second game of my career here he's been able to come to. Very, very special.

I grew up playing ever single sport with that guy and he's taught me a lot of things.

I'm grateful he got to be -- I mean, I had like 35 people here, so there was a lot people here. I got to witness that touchdown, which is really cool. I'm very grateful that all my family and friends got to be here.

Q. The moment when you got the touchdown there at the end, I know back in Vegas you gave a real quick acknowledgment. That one seemed a little more like you were soaking it in. What was that like for, and you how much of it was it cool to do it in the moment of what this game meant for you guys?

MICHAEL MAYER: Yeah, to be honest with you, I didn't know that play call was coming. I thought we were going to run the ball. We kind of got that call in and Drew kind of looked at it and he was like, are we passing it right now? We just ran the ball for however many yards. I was, yeah, dude. Let's go. Let's do it. This is our last chance to do to this game. Let's do it.

I think Drew knew that ball was going to come to me the entire way.

But it's an accumulation of things. There has been a ton of people that have helped out here long the way. Started my tight ends coach here, McNulty and then now Coach Parker. There has been a lot of people that have helped. A lot, a lot of people, and I'm very grateful for it. I will never take it for granted and I love this place.

Q. What was it like coming over here through these fans and just hear the ovation as Coach Freeman goes over?

MICHAEL MAYER: Awesome. Awesome. Well overdue, right? Our fans were awesome tonight. Fantastic. I was walking over and saw them all huddling up there. I kind of pumped them up in the tunnel a little bit. They were all going crazy. Our fans deserve this win. You know, it's been a little bit of an up and down season, to say the least.

We've been working hard, kept our head down, and done what we need to do, and I'm happy the outcome was what it was today.

Q. What do you think tonight says about the future of Notre Dame football under Marcus Freeman?

MICHAEL MAYER: We're going to keep fighting. No matter what anybody says or thinks about us, we don't care. We are going to keep fighting and keep practicing and keep our head down and keep listening to Coach Freeman because he's a fantastic head coach. That's really it. That's all I can say.

Q. This is your second field rushing you've been a part of as a Notre Dame student. I'm sure this one feels a little better given there was 80,000 people instead of 10,000 people in the stands.

MICHAEL MAYER: Yeah, I couldn't get out of there. I really couldn't. They needed to help me get out of there. I actually got to see some friends that rushed the field and found me. That was cool, to be able to share the field with them.

But, yeah, everybody knew it was coming. I mean, that was obviously a way kind of more drastic field rush than the last one, but it felt good. Felt good to watch those fans run on that field.