Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly talked about what goes into deciding when to use a freshmen's eligibility.

Kelly said one of the main things that go into playing a freshman is making sure that player will have an effect on the game.

"Let's say Tommy Rees doesn't play, Dayne has it all locked up, we lose Dayne the last game of the year and we need to beat USC regardless of what the circumstances are," Kelly said. "Tommy Rees has to get in there and play. But it would have to be a scenario like that. I'm not going to put a kid on a kick team late in the year and use up his redshirt opportunity or possibility. I guess from my standpoint, we would monitor that really closely."

Kelly said there are some players deemed untouchable, and he goes over who they are with his staff two days before a game.

"They're traveling (with the team to a road game), but they don't go in the game unless they go in through me," Kelly said. "In the hurry to get a special teams player on there, you throw a kid out there for one play, and he loses his redshirt. That's gotta run through me."