SOUTH BEND (AP) — Notre Dame left tackle Mike Turkovich, whose confidence was shaken after being part of an offensive line that gave up an FBS-record 58 sacks last season, found inspiration in an unlikely spot: lying on his bed at home.

As he was getting ready to return from his home in Bedford, Pa., to South Bend in August, the 6-foot-6, 305-pound senior found a handwritten note his younger sister, Lauren, had left for him before she left for Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y.

"It said, 'I believe in you. You need to believe in yourself. You are there because you have the ability. You just have to trust in yourself and things will fall into place,'" Turkovich said.

Those were just the words a player in need of confidence needed. Turkovich credits his new-found confidence for helping him to win the starting left tackle spot.

He has played so well that when coach Charlie Weis was asked to name some of the biggest differences between last year's 3-9 team and this year's 5-2 squad he cited Turkovich, calling him "one of the most-pleasant surprises on our team."

Heading into this season, left tackle was the biggest question mark along the offensive line. Turkovich, a tackle his first two seasons, moved to guard last season because he was struggling some at tackle and started every game at left guard.

He admits, though, that he lost some confidence because of his play last season. He played timid and was afraid of making mistakes.

"Last year was an embarrassment for us as an offensive line," he said. "We took a lot of heat, and rightfully so. We didn't perform the way we needed to."

This past spring, after recovering from appendicitis, he was moved back to tackle to compete for the starting job against last year's starter Paul Duncan and sophomore Matt Romine. Turkovich worked hard in the offseason to improve his strength and his sister worked hard to restore his confidence.

It didn't stop with the letter she left on his bed, which he keeps in a drawer next to his bed at school and looks at when he's feeling down. She sent more letters, e-mails and text messages as well as voice mails encouraging him to have confidence.

"When you have someone who has confidence in you like my family does, they support me in everything I do, it makes it easier to have confidence in yourself," Turkovich said.

Turkovich believes his confidence is the biggest factor in why he is playing better and why he won the starter's job, which Weis said he did "convincingly."

"He did everything well. He showed he could pass block, he showed he could block at the point of attack, he showed he wasn't a liability when we put him on an island," Weis said.

Offensive line coach John Latina said he's not sure why, but for some reason "the light switch has gone on" for Turkovich.

Turkovich believes there are a number of reasons besides his confidence for his improved play. After a season of playing guard, he understands better each player's responsibility on each play and knows the playbook much better.

"I just started to understand the game better, started to see things better, started being a smarter player," he said.

The Irish line as a whole is playing significantly better. After going through five lineup changes last season because of position changes and injuries, the Irish have used the same five starters in all seven games so far this year.

They've gone from giving up the most sacks in the nation last year to giving up 11 so far this year. The line also has been steadily improving on run blocking.

Turkovich has been a key factor, Weis said.

"We haven't had to spend a lot of time giving a lot of extra help with either of these tackles, which has allowed us to spread out more on offense than you saw us at any time last year, because they've been able to hold their own pretty much one on one out there," Weis said. "That's why I was very pleased with how he's progressed."

He's done it confidently, with the help of his younger sister.