Over the past two seasons of rebuilding for Notre Dame, Irish fans have been very patient. Although the last two years have been tough, there definitely has been growth and certain players did become leaders. One of those players is Robert Hughes.

Last season, Hughes really was part of a rotation at tailback with James Aldridge and Armando Allen. This year I get the sense that Charlie Weis wants to get away from that and make Allen the featured guy. I also understand that Weis will have packages for both Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood. Aldridge has moved over to fullback.

Where does that leave Hughes? I would hate to see him as the odd man out. I understand that is how it works in sports, but I really like Robert Hughes. The reason is that I just get the sense that he plays hard at all times.

I remember the awful game the Irish had last year against USC. Late in the game Hughes was in a brawl with a USC defender. Now I am not encouraging fighting, but it does show that he was still competing hard even with the game out of reach.

For that reason I believe that the Irish are better with Hughes being part of the plan. Now I am not saying that he isn't, I am just not sure what his role is. Will he share time at fullback with Aldridge? Will he still get carries at tailback? Does he slowly get weeded out and become more of a special teams guy?