Count on me. That has been the mantra around Notre Dame football in the wake of Saturday's loss to USC. Senior captain Harrison Smith even used the slogan to fire up teammates before Saturday's romp over Navy.

Coach Brian Kelly introduced it and players adopted it.

"I feel like my job is to have the pulse of our team and I felt like "count on me" meant accountability and responsibility and getting my job done, taking care of business," Kelly said. "That's why I wanted that to resonate."

To different players it means different things, which is how Kelly intended it.

"Every player is going to take it the way they need to take it," he said.

For inside linebacker Manti Te'o, the meaning extends off the field: "To do things right and to have your teammates know that he's the guy that does things right and he's the guy that I can trust and he's the guy that I can go to, and basically that I can count on him," Te'o said when asked for his personal definition. "I can count on him in the game and I can count on him to help me if I have any social problems, problems in school. It extends farther than the football field. You're calling on each other in whatever way we can."