Notre Dame's loss against Navy last Saturday adds uncertainty to the teams potential success this season. The fighting Irish side suffered a 35-17 defeat last weekend at the New Meadowlands stadium adding speculation about their new coach's transition to the new team.

Brian Kelly described the teams loss on Sunday as a learning curve: ''another learning experience that I don't want to go through but we clearly have to,'' he said.

Standing now at 4-4 Kelly's side will have to sweep their final four games to finish at a desirable 8-4. Despite last weekends defeat, Kelly remains optimistic.

''I believe we can win -- I really do,'' Kelly said. ''If our kids continue to work and stay together, we have a chance to win every game we play.''

''We could lose every game we play, too,'' he said. ''We have no margin [for error]. If you can't punch it in to start the game from the one-foot line with the big guys we've got up front and a 230-pound quarterback -- that says something right there.''

The fighting Irish were back in training on Sunday to prepare for their upcoming challenge against Tulsa next Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium. The pressure will be on considering Tulsa's impressive defeat of 52-24 two weeks ago against Tulane.

''There's an accountability and responsibility for how we execute on both sides of the ball,'' Kelly said. ''Our coaches take that seriously. There's no finger-pointing in this room. This is about a collective group that understands why we're here at Notre Dame -- and that's to win football games.


''I've taken a lot of time with the staff [Sunday], making sure we're all on the same page and how we're defending and what we have to do to continue [that way].'' he added.