April 6, 2001

The Notre Dame football team opened spring practice on March 27 at the Loftus Sports Complex. Throughout the spring, www.und.com will follow the progress of senior flanker Arnaz Battle and senior linebacker Tyreo Harrison.

The following is the second interview with Harrison where he discusses motivation.

What are the `Trill’ Linebackers?

“`Trill’ just means “true and real.” It is something old from the south, and it is old to us because we have heard it growing up. One day, Anthony (Denman) decided to call the linebackers `trill,’ back when Ronnie Nicks was here. There were so many Texas people here that it kind of stuck.”

Since Anthony no longer presides over the `Trill’ Linebacker corp., does that mean you have taken over?

“I guess since I’m the Texas one, we still have the `Trill’ thing going. We haven’t really had a chance to sit back and reflect on being `Trill’ right now. When we get better, maybe we will sit and try and figure out how `Trill’ we are.”

How are the newest members of the `Trill’ this spring?

You have to earn it to be a `Trill’ Linebacker. They are all `Trill’ I guess, maybe an honorary `Trill’ label for the spring. We all are in a growth stage, so nobody is really trying to call himself anything. `Trill’ is a source of pride. But, you have to have something to be proud of first before you sit there and talk about how proud you are.