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SOUTH BEND

Even though the walls of the Notre Dame football facility are thick
and security is tight, the questions/comments/criticisms/doubts leak
through.

It doesn't take an in-depth probe of the 2012 Irish to come up with
the areas of imperative concern: 1. Quarterback; 2. Cornerback; 3.
Wide receiver.

Probably in that order.

Junior corner Bennett Jackson doesn't live his life with headphones
on. He's heard the talk. In fact, the 6-foot, 185-pound Jersey guy
doesn't blame those who aren't convinced.

Why should he? He's the veteran of the group with a grand total of 65
snaps on defense last season (“I haven't adjusted to the idea of being
the old guy yet,” he said). He has 28 career tackles, most of which
came in his role as a kickoff coverage kamikaze extraordinaire.

“Everybody's so concerned about the inexperience of the cornerbacks,”
Jackson said after Monday's practice. “I see it and I hear it all the
time. It's all around. You try not to pay attention, but if
everything's all around, you're going to catch notice of some. I can
understand, exactly.

“I like it. People on the outside don't know what we do every day. I
know what I'm capable of. I know what our defense is capable of. I'm
just excited to show it off.”

Last year's starters, Gary Gray and Robert Blanton, are gone. Jackson
appears to be the closest thing to a lock at one corner. On the other
side, Lo Wood, Josh Atkinson and Cam McDaniel seem to be the best bets
to find their way into a rotation.

Not a lot of minutes under the bright lights between those guys.

“They haven't played a ton, but that's what college football is
about,” said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly. “People graduate, and it's
the next guy's chance.”

The next guy, whoever it is, will be a poster child for the premise on
which Kelly's program is built: Player development.

If there were ever a bunch of guys who were in desperate need of
development, it's the four fellows vying for two cornerback spots.

Even with two veterans at corner in 2011, Notre Dame still yielded 206
passing yards a game. Blanton and Gray had two interceptions each. The
only other cornerback pick was one returned 57 yards for a TD by Wood
against Maryland.

Heck, not only is Jackson waiting to get his first interception, his
next broken-up pass will be his first.

A rarely-used receiver and special teams impact player as a freshman,
Jackson is just now getting the hang of what it takes to visit that
“island” on which corners must play — and live to tell about it.

“You know all the pressure's on you at first,” Jackson said of that
one-on-one mentality. “I like having the pressure on me, knowing that
one guy is me.”

It starts with technique. Know the assignment. Execute it properly.
Don't flinch. Don't back down.

And, whatever happens, don't go “fishing.”

What was the toughest part of the position to learn, when he made the
move from receiver?

“Being 'fished,'” Jackson said. “High-lows, receivers tricking you
around. The reason why that was hard was because it came through
repetitions. Not having too many reps under my belt at first, it took
a little while to get onto that.”

Fished? Huh?

Melting the football-ese from the explanation, the best way to
describe being “fished” is being faked by the quarterback.

“The quarterback will try to pump-fake you (during a play),” Jackson said.

Bite on the fake and the receiver flies past on a deep route.

“If you jump the (pump-fake), they'll throw it to the high route,” he
explained. “You don't want to play 'low.' You want to play the top
down.”

Odds are it's going to happen. Maybe not against Navy, and the
Midshipmen's option. But with Purdue, Michigan State and Michigan to
follow, the heat's going to be on the Irish corners.

“You have to have a short-term memory,” Jackson said. “Figure out what
you did wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again.”

And keep the headphones on the rest of the week.