Harris Sewell says first career start 'surreal' against Notre Dame

On starting versus Notre Dame: “It was honestly pretty surreal. I woke up the morning of the game and I was kind of just like, dang I'm starting against Notre Dame today. I mean, it was just surreal. I was just blessing honestly. I was confident going into it. I knew they were very physical and very well coached. I knew going into I was confident and I knew I would go against one of the best defenses in the country everyday. That also brings me a lot of confidence going into it.”

On simplifying the game: “I think it definitely helped. We just kind of stuck with the basics and I mean it was working. I think if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I mean, we just kept doing it and kept working. We just kept running that and it just kind of made things simpler. I’d say it helped.”

On Coach Thomas Austin: “He told us I mean, we had been challenged. I think we did a good job of accepting that challenge. Really straining and fighting to excel. I think he did a great job this past week of just preparing. Getting us mentally ready. Just physically ready. Yeah, I think he did a really good job of that.”

On separating himself within the offensive line: “I think that’s just kind of where they saw the best 5 that week. Obviously, I’m going as hard as I can in practice every week. I mean, I think that's just who they saw as the best 5 that week.”

On the success of Clemson’s run game versus Notre Dame: “Honestly, I didn’t realize it until after the game. They told us how many yards he got and I was like, dang. During the game, I knew he had a bunch of big runs. It didn’t really hit me until after the game when they told us how many yards he had.”