“"Here's the deal, man, in football: one or two plays generally define the game -- your way or the other way," Notre Dame linebacker Joe Schmidt said. "Yeah, right now, it's hard to sit back and have great perspective on that." Schmidt, struggling to hold back his emotions, then waxed a little poetic. "I would say it's crushing, and it definitely hurts a lot," he said. "But the thing I have to remember is how incredibly blessed I've been to just be a part of this university and be a part of this football team. My life is not one where I'm going to complain. Yeah, this hurts. I wish we could have had a different outcome. ... But, really, man, what's important are the relationships we've built and the memories that we've made. Wins and losses are forgotten. Trophies are lost." ”