Notre Dame Tries to Quench Need for Speed

SOUTH BEND, Ind., Aug. 21, 2006 — -- The pursuit sent one player to Florida, another to Arizona and dozens of others to sites in between.

But no matter the destination, every Notre Dame defender had the same goal in mind.

They had seen the film more than once, cringing at the grand canyons separating them from Ohio State ballcarriers in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. They saw four touchdowns of 56 yards or longer. They saw the Buckeyes tally a deplorable 617 yards. They saw the celebrations of Troy Smith, Ted Ginn Jr. and Antonio Pittman, three players who are back this fall.

It made their next step an obvious one. If defenders didn't get faster, nothing else would matter. Without improvement, the defense would put the brakes on Notre Dame's national championship run and satisfy critics who point to the unit as deadweight. Consequently, Notre Dame embarked on its summer of speed.

Tom Zbikowski's quest took him to the so-called enemy, a wide receiver and, even worse, an Ohio State product. Following spring practice Zbikowski spent three weeks with Cris Carter's FAST Program in Boca Raton, Fla.

Though Zbikowski was simultaneously training for his June 10 pro boxing debut in New York, he didn't mix motivations at Carter's camp.

"I wanted to get down there and train for speed," he said.

Carter helped the Irish senior safety understand how receivers think.

"No break is ever good enough," Zbikowski said. "He's [Carter] never satisfied on any given play. You see what their mind-set is, see what they're looking at, whether they're pushing inside or outside."

Chinedum Ndukwe lines up next to Zbikowski in the Irish secondary, but this summer he took a reverse route from his fellow safety. Ndukwe returned to the site of Notre Dame's Fiesta Bowl flop, training with Brett Fischer at Fischer Sports in Phoenix.

Fischer's clients include NFL defensive backs Mike McKenzie, Shawn Springs and Darren Sharper. He also works with Ndukwe's older brother, Ike, a reserve guard for the Washington Redskins.