Marist Liufau says he feels responsible to lead Notre Dame defense

As Notre Dame looks ahead to the 2023 season, the Irish are going to need new leaders on defense to replace players like Isaiah Foskey who are moving on. One of those players who should make an impact as a leader is Marist Liufau.

A graduate student, linebacker Marist Liufau knows that he has a responsibility to lead the Irish defense this season.

“Yeah, I definitely feel like I need to lead,” Marist Liufau said. “I challenge myself to be a better leader every day, whether it’s the linebackers or anyone else on the team.”

In the past, Liufau feels that he has done a good job leading by example. He wants to continue to do that while also becoming a better vocal leader too.

In 2022, Marist Liufau was third on Notre Dame with 51 total tackles. He also had 4.5 tackles for loss and half a sack. This came after he missed the entire 2021 season with an injury and had to battle back to return to the defense.

Next season, Liufau looks to take another leap forward as a player and a leader.

JD PicKell thinks Notre Dame will take a step forward in 2023

The entire Notre Dame team wants to take a step forward in Marcus Freeman’s second season. Luckily for the Irish, On3’s JD PicKell expects exactly that to happen in 2023.

“You won nine games last year, did the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and you did it mostly with a backup quarterback. Notre Dame, last year, was a team that fought one style, in my opinion, and that was just jiu jitsu. We’re going to play you tough in the trenches, we are going to play stingy defense, we’re going to run the football and we’re going to be physical. That’s going to be our edge. We’re not going to make it a track meet, we’re not going to do this whole shootout, team that has the ball next wins, that’s not going to be how we do things,” PicKell said.

“However, now, they add Sam Hartman and they develop that fighting style, I believe. Like I said, you won nine games with a backup quarterback. You add a guy who’s the ACC all-time leader in passing touchdowns with 40-plus games of starting experience. You upgraded at the quarterback position, the most important position in the game of football. It gives me some optimism for them.”