During Notre Dame's 24-21 victory over Purdue two weeks ago, Irish freshman kicker Nick Tausch, after kicking off, was hit behind the play, which resulted in the Boilermakers being assessed a personal foul.

In last Saturday's 37-30 overtime victory over Washington, Tausch was, again during a kickoff, the recipient of a jarring hit, a hit that cost the Huskies 10 yards because it was ruled a block in the back.

So what is Tausch doing to deserve this unwanted attention?

“I have no idea,” Tausch said. “I've just got to keep my head on a swivel more.”

Tausch may be going through the school of hard knocks, but he's also turning heads with his kicking, having hit 10 straight field goals after missing his first college attempt.

The freshman from Plano, Texas, beat out incumbent Brandon Walker in fall camp and has stabilized the Irish kicking game.

Bob Wunderlick, Tausch's high school coach at Dallas Jesuit Prep, believes that Tausch's experience from kicking in football-crazy Texas helped him adjust to college. Wunderlick said it wasn't uncommon for Jesuit Prep to play in front of 15,000 fans.

“Down here it's about as serious as Notre Dame,” Wunderlick said. “It's the closest you can get to the pressure of Notre Dame football.”

Tausch has hit 10-of-11 field goals and 15-of-16 extra-point attempts. If there's an area at which he feels he can improve, it's on kickoffs. Notre Dame ranks 60th nationally in kickoff return yardage with an average of 21.16 yards. Last year the Irish led the country with an average of 16.47 yards.

“I feel like I can do a little better as far as getting more distance and hang time,” Tausch said. “It's just something I'm going to have to work on throughout the season to continuously get better.”

Any struggles on kickoffs, however, have failed to shake Tausch's psyche when he lines up for a field goal or extra point.

“I'm pretty confident, really,” said Tausch, who hit all five of his field-goal attempts last Saturday. “Every single time I go out on the field I'm reverting back to the last kick and thinking this is the most important kick right here coming up. I'm just continuing to stay confident and going out there and making every single kick that I get.”
Rough luck

Granted, Irish freshman long-snapper Jordan Cowart handles only the snapping chores for punts, but he still was surprised last Saturday when teammate Ian Williams was called for a personal foul for roughing the center on a Washington field-goal attempt.

“Even in high school, I've never gotten that called,” Cowart said. “And I've been hit plenty of times head-up.”
Strength in kicking game

Much has been made about the strength of Irish freshman punter Ben Turk, who bench presses more than 400 pounds.

The 5-foot-11, 193-pound Turk didn't start lifting weights until his sophomore year at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“I weighed a hundred pounds coming in,” Turk said. “I was a small kid.”

Turk also has benched 225 pounds 26 times. At the NFL Combine in February, former USC kicker David Buehler benched that weight 25 times. Since it came out that Turk exceeded Buehler's mark, which is considered high for a kicker, he's been asked about it more than once.

How many?

“Probably as many times as I can bench 225,” Turk said.
Recruiting trip?

Turk and Cowart, who were teammates at St. Thomas Aquinas, plan to attend their alma mater's game tonight when they venture home.

While there, they'll be watching a trio of Irish recruiting targets - running back Giovanni Bernard, cornerback Cody Riggs and offensive lineman Brandon Linder. All three are expected to make official visits to Notre Dame for next Saturday's game against USC.

“I'll try to get them,” Turk said. “I'll see what I can do.”