Waiting was worth it for McKnight

September 03, 2006|ERIC HANSEN Tribune Staff Writer

ATLANTA -- Rhema McKnight is now careful what he wishes for. Upon getting comfortable in Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis' offense last August, the Irish senior wide receiver proclaimed, "It would be nice to have two years in this offense." Wish granted. Sort of. Saturday night's season opener between No. 2 Notre Dame and Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium signaled McKnight's return from a season-ending knee injury suffered in game 2 of last season against Michigan. McKnight, ND's leading receiver in 2003 and '04 had hoped to return to action before Weis' inaugural season at Notre Dame had concluded. But the knee injury was much more serious than originally thought, and McKnight ended up takingthe way before the (season) came around," Weis said of the Heisman campaign distractions. "I said, 'Once the season starts, the best way to get noticed is how he plays. It's not by how he talks. It's not by how he interviews. It's not by how he looks. "Basically, I was all for getting any publicity for the kid as long as when it was time to play ball, we could play ball." Night moves Playing at night forces Weis to change his and his team's routine a bit, but there is still down time, and Weis usually uses his to watch other college football games. "Some people nap," he said. "There are different things people do. One of the things I do to keep loose is to