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SOUTH BEND, Ind. - As stories go, The Puppy and The General sounds like a rejected pitch for a children's book. Yet here it is, a pivotal motif for Notre Dame football, although the Puppy already is asking for a rewrite.
Brian Smith, a.k.a. Puppy, takes issue with the interpretation of his nickname. It stems, the sophomore linebacker argues, from Irish assistant Corwin Brown calling him a "young pup" during a visit to campus rather than an obsession with senior linebacker Maurice Crum, a.k.a. The General.
"People always say it's me following Mo around or whatever, but you just heard the real story," Smith said.
The real story will be the effectiveness of Smith and Crum, the two inside linebackers in the Irish's 3-4 scheme. Particularly crucial to that is the development of Smith, shifted to the inside this spring to take advantage of his athleticism and playmaking abilities.
Also crucial to that development is Smith's relationship with Crum, a wily fifth-year senior and veteran of every linebacker slot.
"He's always in his playbook, he's always asking questions," Crum said of Smith. "Whatever it is he needs to get better, he's going to do it. That makes it 10 times easier because now I don't worry about him not knowing what he's supposed to do. All we have to do is just play."
Before that, Smith had to learn how to play because his three starts as a freshman were at outside linebacker. In the off-season, new Irish linebackers coach Jon Tenuta delivered this message to Smith: You need to learn the middle linebacker position. To do that, you need to know everything the defense does.
Panic was not quite the right word to describe Smith's reaction.
"I would say skepticism," Smith said. "Can I do it?"
Apparently, yes, he can.
"What the middle backer does, and what the linebackers do as a unit, they're playing off what the defensive line does," Smith said. "And then the safeties and the corners are playing off what the linebackers do. It all ties in together. There's a lot of carry-over from different packages."
When there is a question, there is Crum. The pair roomed together during the preseason, although after agonizing August days in meeting rooms and on the field, the dorm was more escape than classroom extension.
