SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame doesn’t beat LSU and enter the offseason with some level of positivity without C.J. Prosise.
LSU, which came to Nashville as a top-25 team out of the crucible of the SEC West, had just taken the lead on the Irish midway through the third quarter of the Music City Bowl last December. All-world running back Leonard Fournette had just scythed through Notre Dame’s defense for an 89-yard touchdown run, putting momentum squarely in LSU’s favor.
But four plays into Notre Dame’s ensuing drive, Prosise took a jet sweep 50 yards past the LSU defense for a touchdown, tying the game and setting up a gritty fourth quarter that ended with Kyle Brindza’s walk-off field goal.
That ability to change the game in one play is one of the reasons why Notre Dame moved Prosise from slot receiver to running back earlier this year and why they’re confident he and junior Tarean Folston can be a formidable duo alongside quarterback Malik Zaire this fall.
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“He’s definitely adjusted to that,” coach Brian Kelly said earlier this month about Prosise’s switch. “(He's) doing quite well in his run tracks, feels very comfortable in there. We like where we are there.”
Prosise has been limited in August due to a hip flexor, but coaches said he’s picked up the running back position — which he didn’t play in high school — quickly. They like his ability to run downhill with good pad level, and his versatility to motion into the slot to create mismatches is a good addition to the play-calling arsenal.
“Running-wise, it feels natural,” Prosise said. “I still have to get used to playing inside the tackles. I’ve never done that, and learning the blocking schemes is something I have to adjust to, too.”
While Prosise said Greg Bryant’s suspension, ineligibility and departure from the program (Kelly, as of last Friday, still hasn’t spoken to the former five-star running back) made him realize he’d likely get plenty of touches this fall, in reality, the redshirt junior earned a prominent place in the Irish offense during spring practice. That work in March and April vaulted Prosise over Bryant in the running-back pecking order, with Kelly saying it’d be tough to make the case Prosise wasn’t one of the offense’s 11 best players.
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Prosise’s rapid development should be good news for a Notre Dame ground game that only registered four running plays of 30 or more yards last year (with Prosise’s run against LSU one of them). If Folston is the durable back who can reliably pick up necessary yardage, Prosise is the big-chunk threat.
In baseball terms, Folston is the on-base, gap-to-gap guy (like former Notre Dame and current Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder A.J. Pollock) while Prosise is the swing-for-the-fences power threat (like Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis).
“(Folston) is an established, national-caliber running back, and that is a strength for any football team going into the season,” Kelly said. “(Prosise) we think has a home-run kind of ability at that position.”