Playing at Notre Dame a dream come true for BYU's Hoffman

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BYU receiver Cody Hoffman's favorite movie is "Rudy," the tale of how an unsung walk-on got a chance to play for Notre Dame. It is no wonder, then, that Hoffman is more than excited to play against the Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday. "It means a lot to me," said Hoffman, the Cougars' leading receiver. "As soon as I saw it on the schedule, I was really happy with it, because of all the history there, and the movie [Rudy]. It has always been one of my favorites, so it is going to be a dream come true to play in that stadium."That said, Hoffman and his teammates are doing their best to not over-hype the game, not get caught up in the mystique and atmosphere and forget about the battle on the field. "We are just treating it like another game," he said. "Just, we are preparing ourselves for what we do best. It is just another game. They are a good team, we are a good team, and we are going to go in there with confidence." Part of that confidence, at least for the offense, comes from how well the O. played the first three quarters against Oregon State. "It was a little nicked, but we came out strong last week," Hoffman said. "We put up 24 points on a No. 10 team in the country. So as I see it now, our confidence is going up and we expect it to keep on going." Hoffman said it took only a few minutes of film study to realize that Notre Dame's defense is excellent, one of the best in the country. "Their secondary is good," he said. "They make plays. We are just working on plays right now in practice to exploit their zones, find holes in their zones, because they play zone so much ... And I think they have a really good pass rush, and that really puts the quarterback in a bind and makes them throw it quicker than they want to. Just their zone coverage with their linebackers and their secondary, it makes it harder for opposing teams."