“We don’t really get into that kind of stuff,” he said. “We know we have a really talented team, and we know we have a veteran defense that’s not going to give up too many goals, and we know we’re returning a lot of middies. Our confidence is always going to be at a certain level no matter what the media says. We know who we are as a team, and we don’t need to read articles to figure out who we are. We practiced together all fall and winter to find that out. It’s exciting having a good team and getting noticed, but you’ve always got to prove it each game.”

No. 4 Notre Dame opens the season Sunday against No. 10 Duke – a meeting that many are calling a re-match of last year’s title game. Earl said it’s fitting that the two teams meet again.

“It’s always fun to get another chance to play against them,” he said. “We were a little upset that we didn’t win the national championship. It’s always disappointing to go so far and come up short. Everyone’s really looking forward to it. Duke would probably be the first team we would’ve wanted to play. So it should be a good time.”