As Temple readies for its matchup against Notre Dame on Saturday, coach Matt Rhule participated in the first weekly teleconference for The American Athletic Conference this afternoon.

Rhule discussed his team, and how it is preparing for its game in South Bend, Ind. later this week.

“We’ve had a good, hard physical training camp,” Rhule said. “I think we’ve really established the way we want to play and the way we want to run the program in terms of an emphasis on effort and tackling and blocking and just the fundamentals that with this team needed to happen.”

“This Saturday is obviously, for us, a tremendous opportunity to play in a storied place and play against, both historically and recently, one of the best programs in the nation.” Rhule added. “So for our players and for our program it’s a great opportunity to go out.”

What has stood out to Rhule in particular when watching film of Notre Dame, is the team’s defensive line.

“I think with them they have one of the best defensive lines in the country,” Rhule said. 
“[Senior] Louis Nix, we’re probably not sleeping around here thinking about him. Whatever he weighs, 350 pounds. He’s a dominant, dominant college football player that takes over games, establishes the line of scrimmage.”

Junior Stephon Tuitt and senior Prince Shembo were also mentioned by Rhule as impact players that stand out on the roster.

Rhule said that the Owls will visit Notre Dame Stadium after landing on Friday, as the team wants to visualize where they will be playing the next day. As Rhule points out, his team may have its hands full. 

“[The Fighting Irish] really are the complete package on both offense and defense,” he said.