Audric Estime, Notre Dame Running Back

Now joining us is a running back for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

And that, of course, is Audric Estime, who had 16 carries in the game for 95 yards and did find the end zone on that opening drive. And he's kind enough to join us right now on CBS Sports Radio. Audric, appreciate the time, as always. How are you?

I'm good. Appreciate you guys for having me on here. So take me through that experience, kicking off the season for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, another year of football getting ready, set to go. And this time it was in Dublin, Ireland. How was that experience for you? Oh, it was a great experience to play the game we love overseas.

A lot of people don't even get the chance to travel overseas, but we did. And this game gave us that great opportunity, and we took advantage of the opportunity that we had. And you never know how the season's going to start off, and sometimes it takes a while for a team to get going. But right out of the gate, you get the ball. 13 plays, 81 yards in 6 minutes and 34 seconds.

You cap it off with the touchdown. Just what made that team be able to gel right away on the first drive of the season? Yeah, just something that we've been preparing for since last season was over. Well, right when Winter Workout started, we knew that this is all we're preparing for Navy ever since that first lift ever since spring ball. So it's something that we've been preparing for a couple of months, and we just got the opportunity, and we just started rolling with it.

We all know, Audric, estimate you're gonna be a big part of this football team. What did you really hone in on and work on this summer when you were looking to improve your craft? I really just worked on trying to be a better leader for the young guys, because I'm a junior now. I'm an older guy. I've been in the system for a couple of years now, so I just want to be more of a leader, a person that guys could rely on and look on when the times get hard so they can look at me. So I want to lead by example.

No matter how I'm feeling, I just got to go, and that's what I'm still trying to work on at weekend and week out. Last year, you guys got off to the slow start. You lose to number two, Ohio State, then you lose to Marshall. But after that, you really were able to get hot and finish off the season on a strong note, winding up being nine and four after that bowl victory against South Carolina. When you look back at last season, what did this team end up proving that you guys could carry over into this season to be even better this year? Coach Freeman always prizes one game at a time, one day at a time, so we don't really look at the full picture, all those 12, 14 games. We look at one day of practice at a time, one week, one game at a time, and that's what really our motto been this year, and we're just trying to keep on it, trying to reach our full potential.

We're not even trying to look at the win. The win will be the result of reaching our full potential. Now, I remember the emotional video when Marcus Freeman got the job so far, though, this now being year two as him as the head honcho for Notre Dame football. Just what has he really brought to this program and what's a new era for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish? Yeah, Coach Freeman is great. I feel like there's no better man for the job.

He's he's a guy who's not even about himself. He's a guy that put the team, the teammates, the players all above anything. He's a good players coach and he's a great leader for us. And we were all in that wait and see period who was going to join Brian Kelly and who was going to stay with Marcus Freeman. I remember the elation from you guys is all your guesstimates here with us when Tommy Reese elected to come back.

Now he's he left and he's the offensive coordinator of Alabama. When you found that out this offseason that Tommy was was leaving and also with your connection with him, had you kind of process that news? Yeah, it was pretty hard, but at the end of the day, you come to Notre Dame for Notre Dame, you come to Notre Dame because it's one of the I feel like he's the best university in the world. So no matter what, you just got to stick to the same script and remember the reason why you came here. And the reason I came here was to be great, to be successful. And no matter what coach is here, what who's in the building or not, just stick to that plan. And that's what all the coaches and everyone who was here when that time was preaching to us.

And that's what everyone did. The decision to go to Notre Dame, it doesn't seem like you regret it whatsoever with the way that you just described it. But is it just as you you expected it to be? Or is it even better than what you expected it to be?

That's a hard question, honestly. I honestly didn't even know what to expect. But looking back at it, I feel like it's a little different. Like, it is a little different. Like, I feel like nothing in life will be what you expect. But it's very different.

It's different in a good way, though. Audrey Gaston here with us had a touchdown 95 yards rushing in the opening victory of the season for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Dublin, Ireland up against Navy. I know Gerard Parker was on the staff last year. Now he's the offensive coordinator.

What does he kind of fine tune with this offense to make it even a little bit different than what it was a year ago? Yeah, Chris Parker is a great guy. He just brings juice. He brings energy. And he's all about the work.

Honestly, he's a guy that he like coach Freeman doesn't care about when he doesn't care about losing. He's quick pair cares about putting the work in. And he's a guy that brings the juice. And he's always on. He's always on the field with us during practice. Like he's one of the players. He's sometimes we got to tell him to back up. But he's a great guy. He's a smart guy. He knows what he's doing.

And he's a coach that you trust no matter what's going on. So you had that touchdown to open things up. Then I saw after a big run, you put the ball in the turf. I know Notre Dame was able to maintain possession of the football. Then you got bench a little bit, but you came back and you had a nice finish to the game.

Just where does that mental toughness come from for you to be able to block that out, not let it affect you? Then when you get back on the field, you take advantage of the opportunity at hand. Yeah, to go back to what I said about what coach Freeman preaches all the time is one day, one life, one play, one life. And that was one play. It was a bad play, but no matter what, I got a couple of plays left and just put that in the past and keep moving forward and look, and I had a job to do.

And no matter what, I just got to execute that job. I think everyone's take, and you know how we do things here in radio. We always talk about the coach and we also talk about the quarterback. We all know what Sam Hartman is capable of, but he really put it on display up against Navy with the four passing touchdowns, 19 to 23 for 251 yards. How would you describe your quarterback's debut for the Fighting Irish? He did really well.

He did what everyone expected him to do. Sam, he's a great player. He's a great teammate. He's a leader for us. He's a guy that played a lot of ball. So he's a guy that everyone rallies around and he's a great quarterback for us. And I'm looking forward to what he does for the next couple of weeks. Why has the connection when you bring in a new quarterback, and I know like you said, the quarterback is the leader of the team, so maybe it makes it easier, but why have you guys been able to get on the same page so quickly, not only you and Sam, but the rest of the offense as well with what we got to see over the weekend?

Yeah, because Sam, he's a Notre Dame guy. When he came in the wintertime, he was like, he'd been there for all five years. He's very adaptable. He's just taking it one day at a time like everyone else. He's here working. And even though he's Sam Hartman, everyone in the world knows him, who he is. And when he's in a facility, he's one of us.

He's just here to work just like all 11, all 22 of us are. You have an opening day performance like that. People start to wonder what this team is capable of. I know later down the road, right, you get some tougher opponents with Ohio State, USC, and then towards the end of the year, Clemson. But you being a part of this journey, you knowing the hard work that this team has put in all throughout the offseason and the summer, what do you think this team is capable of accomplishing this year? We're capable of accomplishing real big things, but honestly, we're taking it one week at a time. This week, we have TSU, and we're just trying to reach our full potential every week. But if we do that, I feel like we'll do really good things, really great things. I've read about your story, and I just have so much respect for you.

And I saw the video that Notre Dame put out when you elected to sign on board. Can you just take me through your upbringing a little bit and whatever you feel comfortable about sharing in this conversation? Yeah, so I came up with my older brother. I have a brother who's two years older than me.

I've been with him my whole life. My mother raised me. She was a single mother. She passed away when I was 10 years old.

Dude's sick of cell anemia. So since that happened, my aunt and uncle, her brother and sister took me and my brother and our legal guardians. And they have kids themselves. So they're our cousins, but they're like my brothers and sisters. And yeah, I have a real big family and they're big supportive family no matter what I was doing. Even if I wasn't playing football right now, they'll be supportive no matter what.

So I just really have a big supportive family and great people around me and in my corner. And your cousin slash godfather, he played in the NFL, right? Yes, sir.

He got drafted in 2014. And ever since then, I'm like, yeah, that got to be me. I got to make that happen just like he did. So you said that, and it's one thing to say, okay, I want to be an NFL player. And you want to go to maybe like a college like Notre Dame.

But when did you start to realize Audrey guest demand? I know you have some nice accolades attached to your name that you said, okay, you know, this is something I could really go pursue. And it's not just something I enjoy doing, but something I'm really damn good at. Yeah, so like every 10 year old believes after going to NFL, and I was one of those 10 year olds. But growing up, I was always a little head up in my grade. And once I got to high school, college coaches started to talk to me. And like at that point, man, I spoke to my head coach, Augie Hoffman, and he sat me down. He was like, you could really be special. You can be you're different than any other guys that we had come through this building. And ever since that point, I guess I think it was my freshman year high school.

I feel like it could be a reality. And last thing I'll ask you, Audrey, guest to me, I know that you're a team oriented guy, and you talked about the leadership, but individually, like, what do you individually want to show and accomplish this year? Individually, I want to show that I'm one of the best players in the country, honestly. Love that answer. Perfect way to end it. Hey, good luck this upcoming weekend. Love hearing your story. Good luck the rest of the way. And thanks so much for doing this. Thank you for having me.