SOUTH BEND — What do a set of bag pipes and a top ten nationally ranked lacrosse team have in common?

As the Notre Dame mens lacrosse team prepares to take the game field, Regis McDermott has his mind on something else.

“About 5 minutes before I know I'm about to go in and get them, you start thinking about it a little bit and you take your mind off the game for that five minutes,” McDermott told WSBT Sports.

Those five minutes are spent warming up his bagpipes ... his bagpipes?

The Irish take the field behind McDermott every single game.

"One of the greatest things about this ritual is that it's completely unique to Notre Dame sports. The tradition was started 12 years ago by former Irishman Sean Meehan, when his teammates found out he had a knack for the bag pipes."

"Sean started it off mostly because his teammates wouldn't let him not do it. They used to sneak the bagpipes on the trips early on back when he was a little more reluctant about it! But it quickly became a tradition and every time a senior has the pipes, he finds somebody in the freshman or sophomore class to take the reigns for him and its become a pretty neat tradition," commented head coach Kevin Corrigan.

McDermott was chosen to carry on the tradition during his freshman year.

"My dad was a drum major in pipe bands on Long Island so I had kind of been around bag pipes my whole life and have always wanted to start it but had never gotten the chance because I was so busy so this was my opportunity," added McDermott.

And McDermott's no bench-warmer -- in fact he's one of ND's starting defenders.

Both coaches and teammates agree. Regis is the man for the job.

"Look at him, he's Irish," beamed teammate Peter Christman.

"I'm not sure he knows more than one song and I've never heard him play more than 35 seconds at a time, but you know what -- he's gotten pretty good at that 35 seconds," Corrigan said.

"When you're walking out on the field, there aren't too many things that will get you more pumped up than the sound of bag pipes," commented teammate Sean Dougherty.

"It's different for me now that I'm playing. I don't really get to experience that, I'm kind of just worried about playing the pipes but I think it gets everybody riled up and they start screaming and everything. and then once I finish and it feels good, it's out of my mind and I'm ready for game time," said McDermott.