McGlinchey leads Irish by turning page towards Boston College

Notre Dame football made its way to New England Thursday night in preparation for its first road game of the season. The Irish take on Boston College in a trip that comes at a perfect time.

Brian Kelly said earlier in the week that the best medicine to get over a loss is to get back on the field. That's exactly how the players feel about this weekend's game against B.C., especially captain Mike McGlinchey.

In a game where the margin between victory and defeat could've been a single play, many eyes fell towards McGlinchey following the loss to Georgia. The preseason All-American left tackle surrendured a game-sealing sack against the Bulldogs, but after having a few days to pick himself up, he says he's on to the next challenge.

"You can vent about it all you want but nothing's going to change unless you go back to work," said McGlinchey. "That's all I've been focused on from Sunday to Monday on. I'm feeling a lot better than I was on Saturday night, that's for sure."

That concept of moving forward has been a hallmark of the team's mindset since 2016, and McGlinchey's teammates see his response to adversity as a prime example.

"We didn't really have to pick Mike up," said center Sam Mustipher. "He's a leader. He's been a leader for as long as I've been here … one play doesn't define Mike as a player or a person. We're still going to look for him as a leader and as a guy we can count on every snap."

"Guys minds can kind of drift back to last year when we lost a lot of close games," said fellow captain Drue Tranquill, "but I think a captain's job is to bring guys back into the present moment."

The present moment now lies with Boston College, and another installment in one of Notre Dame's storied rivalries.

"There's a lot of history between our programs with the two Catholic institutions," said McGlinchey. "It's the Holy War I guess you could call it."

"[Boston College is] a really physical team," said linebacker Greer Martini. "There's also a lot at stake. We're both Catholic institutions and there's a lot of pride in that as well."

That pride manifests itself in more ways than one, because while Boston College represents the first road test for Notre Dame, it's also the first opportunity to bounce back.

"We're going to play our hearts out," said McGlinchey, eliciting a round of applause from an eavesdropping Brian Kelly. "Everybody's kind of angry, kind of pissed off. Ready to get back out and see another team again."