Jeremiyah Love is aware of the Heisman chatter after his performance against USC.
But he’s going to let others do the talking while he controls what he can control.
“I hear it a lot,” the Notre Dame running back told Bleacher Report. “But I try not to focus on it because I’m a big believer in going out there, putting your head down and blocking out the noise whether it’s good or bad. If you go out there and do the right things that you need to do, all those good things will come.Â
“If I go out there and have the performances like I had last game, the result of that could be a Heisman or me being a high draft pick. I’m not focused on it, but I definitely hear it. It’s good to hear, it would feed anybody’s ego. But I try to keep the simple things the simple things.”
Love was a star last season with 1,125 rushing yards and 19 total touchdowns, but he could very well blow past those numbers with 758 rushing yards, 197 receiving yards and 12 total touchdowns through seven games this year.
The Heisman discussion certainly picked up after his headline performance against the Trojans in what was arguably a College Football Playoff eliminator game with both teams entering play with blemishes on their resume.
He took over the game in front of a raucous Notre Dame crowd under the lights with 24 carries for 228 yards and one touchdown to go with five catches for 37 yards. His touchdown came after USC took a 7-0 lead and on the same drive he exploded for a 63-yard run to give the Fighting Irish the momentum right back and set the tone in the 34-24 win.
“Whenever I’m having a good game, it feels great,” he said. “Especially if it’s a rivalry game. That game meant a little bit more. But at the end of the day, it really was just another game to me. That performance wouldn’t have been possible without my teammates. We put in a great week of preparation and game-planning so we could be on the same page. Whenever we’re on the same page, performances like that happen.”
It will take a few more performances like that for him to become the first running back to win college football’s most coveted individual award since Derrick Henry did so in 2015 and the first Notre Dame player to do so since Tim Brown in 1987.
But he didn’t want the individual credit.
“Really just kudos to my o-line, to CJ [Carr], to the receivers, to the defense and the special teams for playing complementary football and allowing me to be the best version of myself and help the team win the game,” Love said.
“Playing like that felt great, but it’s because of my teammates and the culmination of hard work.”
That overall teamwide focus on “hard work” has been key in Notre Dame’s turnaround this season.
Its CFP chances were in serious trouble right out of the gates when it lost its first two games to Miami and Texas A&M. Suddenly, the Fighting Irish were in a position where they had to win out to have a realistic chance to be included in the 12-team field even though those losses came by a combined four points against two of the better teams in the country.
Notre Dame has been a different team since with five straight wins by double digits, including a 56-13 blowout of the SEC’s Arkansas on the road.Â
It is back up to No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25 as a result and should be favored in the remainder of its games against Boston College, Navy, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Stanford.
“Our mindset was just put your head down and work,” Love said of bouncing back from the slow start. “That’s always been our mindset. Just work, work, work. The truth lies in the work. If you’re working hard and doing the right things, you’ll put yourself in the best position possible.
“That’s what we’re focused on now. Just putting our heads down and working and making sure we’re doing the right things so we’re in the best position possible to go out there and win games.”
There will be plenty more winning against the overmatched opponents to come if the running back tandem continues to play at a high level. While Love is the star, part of what makes the team so dangerous is it is not just a one-man show out of the backfield thanks to Jadarian Price.
Price has 509 rushing yards and 11 total touchdowns on the season, two of which came on kickoff returns. His kickoff return for a touchdown against the Trojans was arguably the biggest play of the game, as it gave the home team the lead back for good in the second half of the back-and-forth contest.
“It’s very important to have Jadarian,” Love said. “We have a lot of playmakers on this team, and Jadarian is one of them. Him being able to go out there and make plays on the fly is what we need.Â
“… Jadarian is one of those guys who can pop those explosive plays whenever we need them. He’s a great back, great person. I love being around him off the field, he’s a great guy to be around.”
Hanging out with his fellow running back isn’t the only thing Love is doing off the field.
He also partnered with Icy Hot to help him recover from games and perform at the highest level possible throughout the season.
“The partnership has been great,” he said. “Even before I partnered with Icy Hot, I incorporated it into my recovery routine. Being able to partner with them is an honor because I look at Icy Hot as a brand with high status. Even in high school, people were using it all around me. Being able to partner with them, I feel blessed.
“I use it pregame and postgame. Pregame, whenever I’m feeling a little rusty or sore, I use it to loosen me up and fire me up. Postgame, just use it for whenever I’m feeling beat up so I can feel good faster.”
The Icy Hot is much-needed in the 12-team CFP era seeing how long the season can be if Notre Dame accomplishes all its goals.
After all, it was just last season it played nearly a full NFL schedule with 16 games to reach the national championship contest. And much like this season, it had to bounce back from an early loss to Northern Illinois to play its way back into the playoff discussion.
The Fighting Irish defeated Indiana, Georgia and Penn State in the CFP before falling just short in the title game against Ohio State. Even in that title game, they showed fight while cutting a 31-7 deficit to just eight points in the fourth quarter.
While coming so close to lifting the trophy could serve as motivation, Love is worried about what is in front of him.
“As of right now, that’s in the past for us,” he said. “We’re really just focused on the right now, the next game. We almost reached the ultimate goal last season, so maybe at the beginning of the season or in fall camp we used that as motivation to help propel us to work as hard as we can. But as of right now, we’re not really thinking about the past. We’re thinking about the now, we’re thinking about what we can do right now to put us in the best position possible to achieve success like that.”
If everything goes according to plan, that approach could give him yet another chance to play on college football’s biggest stage come January.
