There was no sense even making an attempt to chase South Florida cornerback Kayvon Webster. He was gone. Nobody was going to catch him, particularly not Jonas Gray, who had slammed into the line of scrimmage, inches away from his first touchdown in a Notre Dame uniform.

"I just remember saying to myself when (Webster) was running down the sidelines, 'This can't happen, this can't happen,'" said Gray from the Isban Auditorium in the Guglielmino Athletics Complex Wednesday.

"I just remember going to the sideline and looking at my guys' faces and letting them know I was going to pick it up from there, that I wasn't going to let that put me down at all. It was just kind of a shock to me, but I knew there was a lot of the game left to play."

Gray did bounce back with impressive nine- and 10-yard runs. But the damage had been done. It was one of several critical plays that went against the Irish that could have swayed the outcome in their favor instead of resulting in a 23-20 loss to the Bulls.

"It happened pretty early, and I came back and had a few good runs," Gray said. "My guys did a good job of picking me. I just tried to go out there and play as hard as I could."

"He just make a good play," said Gray of free safety Jerrell Young's strip. "It came to a point where I was at a standstill and at the last second, he picked at the ball and made a good play.

While junior Cierre Wood figures to get at least 75 percent of Notre Dame's rushing attempts in 2011, the 5-foot-10, 230-pound Gray must play. The lack of depth at the position, not to mention Gray's physical attributes, dictates that the senior from Pontiac, Mich., strap it on and head back to the Irish backfield, particularly in the red zone and on short yardage plays where his bulk is needed.

Gray hasn't been left with much of a choice.

"My confidence? He's got to go back out there," said Irish head coach Brian Kelly. "He's got to play for us. He's physically able to do it. Mentally, he's got to be able to do it. We're not sitting him down. He's got to play for us against Michigan, and he's got to play for us all year."

A heart-to-heart talk with Gray left him knowing exactly how his head coach expected him to respond to the adversity.

"I'll tell you exactly what I said: 'How do you want to be remembered?'" Kelly said. "As the guy that fumbled on the one-yard line, or as the guy in your senior year who bounced back from some adversity and had an incredible season? You know what? I think he's going to have a very good season."

Gray appreciated the words from his head coach.

"It was just a man-to-man conversation," Gray said. "He said, 'What do you want your legacy to be?' He said you can be a guy who dwells on this and lets it take down your confidence, or you can come back and have a big game and go back home and play as hard as you can.'"

Kelly wasn't the only one doling out advice to Gray.

"I just told him, 'You're much better than you think you are,'" said running mate Cierre Wood. "I told him you have to put that in your head and it has to stay there, and nobody can tell you otherwise.

"That's what I did with myself. I told myself that I belonged on this field and that I could start. I told him everything positive about what I wanted to accomplish, and I made it happen. Nobody gave it to me. I made it happen.

"I told him as soon as it happened, 'All right, it's done with. Now you've got to keep playing.' I know he's going to do great. I know that for a fact."

For Gray, it's all about looking forward, especially this weekend as he returns home to Michigan.

"I'm excited," Gray said. "It's going to be a great game, a great rivalry. I'm looking forward to going back home. I've got about 25 tickets already. I'm excited that my family and friends will be there. Our guys are hyped up and ready to get back on the field. Saturday can't come fast enough."

The good-natured Gray has put the miscue against South Florida in perspective.

"It was tough, but in my lifetime I've learned to not take a lot of things seriously, not to let things get me down," Gray said. "Stay positive, plus I know I'm a good player. I know that touchdown will come."