The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be short-handed for the Citrus Bowl matchup against LSU thanks to suspensions to three players for violations of team rules.
The suspended players are tight end Alize Mack, receiver Kevin Stepherson and running back C.J. Holmes.
Mack was suspended because of an “internal team matter,” while Stepherson and Holmes were reportedly suspended for shoplifting, according to WNDU-TV.
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly expressed his disappointment in the players.
“If I could explain 18- to 21-year-olds and their thought process after being in (coaching) for 27 years, I would have written that book already,” Kelly told reporters Thursday, via the Chicago Tribune. “We try to expose our kids to the foundational principals of making good decisions.
“(Stepherson and Holmes) broke one of our commandments. You can’t steal and they did. I can tolerate a lot of things, but I can’t tolerate stealing. That’s why they are suspended indefinitely and they’ve put themselves in jeopardy.”
Because of the suspensions, Kelly will be forced to move his receivers around.
“Equanimeous (St. Brown) is going to move out to the X receiver position,” Kelly said. “Cam (Smith) will float around. Chris Finke (and) C.J. Sanders will (also) float in and out of those positions.”
The Citrus Bowl takes place on Monday, Jan. 1 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
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