Nick Borseti talks with a thick New England accent and a straightforwardness that fits perfectly with Charlie Weis' style.
Borseti is a fan of football players who like to keep their focus in two places - between the sidelines and on their classes.
"The social atmosphere as opposed to other colleges isn't much to tote about," Borseti said. "I just like the fact that people who come here, come here to play football, and that's it. They come here to play football and get a good education, and they're not concerned with the social atmosphere or any of these outside influences. You've got a really dedicated student athlete when they come here."
Borseti is a student-athlete whose path has taken him from his first academic love to another. He began as a mechanical engineering major but switched to industrial design because football interfered with his engineering classes.
"Academics are really important coming here," he said. "I'm an industrial design major now, and I'm in love with that major as well. It's definitely important that I'm leaving with a degree, and I'm proud of it."
With that degree, Borseti said, he hopes to enter the world of product design. He singled out automobiles and consumer electronics as specialties he would like to work on, and he said his classes at Notre Dame have been helpful in that regard.
"They do a great job each year narrowing you down and down and down, until you're really just taking classes focusing on what you want to do with your major," Borseti said. "This isn't the type of school [where] you have to be embarrassed being a football player. ... When teachers do recognize me as a football player, they don't treat me any different."
And that's just how Borseti would have it. He credits his father, John, with his work ethic.
"Everything I've done I've worked for," he said. "I never got anything handed to me."
Borseti said most of his teammates have the same dedicated mindset as him, and that's why he respects the team so much.
"It's always great coming to a program and onto a team because you immediately have 100 friends," he said. "We have a lot of good guys on the team and they make lifelong friends."
Borseti's favorite moment in his Notre Dame career dates back to his first career appearance, on kickoff coverage in the second game of his sophomore season - Notre Dame's 28-20 victory over Michigan.
"That game I had a good hit and a good tackle," Borseti said. "In film session the next day, they rewound it a couple of times, so that felt good."
And the fact that the unranked Irish beat the then-No. 7 Wolverines made it only sweeter.
"I remember when everyone rushed the field after the game, and I raised my helmet - it felt a lot better knowing I was part of the victory," he said.
Because Borseti did not play as a freshman, he can apply for a fifth year of eligibility. But the senior said anything ahead of the upcoming game is past his planning period.
"We get it drilled into our heads so much that it's game-by-game," Borseti said. "I'm not really looking ahead."
