“Football runs in the Carr family blood. This is your moment, you are ready for this. Go out against Miami, attack and don’t look back.”

That was the text message CJ Carr received from his grandpa Lloyd, the former national championship head coach at Michigan, after CJ was named the starting quarterback at Notre Dame.

Speaking to the media for the 1st time since he was named QB1, CJ relayed how special it was to talk to his grandfather about life and football. The younger Carr now looks to pave his own wing in the Carr family football legacy, taking the reigns as the starting quarterback at Notre Dame after a fierce competition in camp with Kenny Minchey.

“I think coming in every day knowing someone is chasing you or you are chasing them was important for me in the fall,” Carr said of how he got better because of the battle with Minchey. “To come in every day with a chip on my shoulder and attack the day.  You don’t have room for error. You don’t have room to relax. I think it made both of us better players.”

Carr takes over for Riley Leonard, who he studied and learned under last year. Leonard, of course, led Notre Dame to the national title game as a veteran 5th year senior. Carr is a heralded recruit but he’s a redshirt freshman who hasn’t played a meaningful down of college football yet. And still, he has great respect from his teammates.

“He commands the huddle,” 5th year transfer captain and wide receiver Will Pauling explains. “It kind of surprises you. He’s a young guy but you wouldn’t guess that at all. He’s very confident not only in his play but how he’s able to lead an offense and a locker room. That’s what makes CJ so special is that he’s well beyond his years and I think that’s going to be very good for us.”

So where does that confidence in such a young, inexperienced player come from?

“I’m really not sure to be honest with you,” Carr concedes with a smile and laugh. “This is kind of me. I just enjoy coming out here and playing football with some of my best friends. It’s fun for me. I enjoy it. It doesn’t feel like a job or anything. I can come out here everyday with high energy and enjoy it.”

Irish head coach Marcus Freeman named Carr the starter on August 19th. Since then he’s been working with offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli to be ready to go for the season opener at Miami this Sunday.

“Really excited about his eagerness to dive into the deep end,” Denbrock said Wednesday after practice. “He wants a lot of responsibility. He wants it on his shoulders and that’s what you want from someone who is as competitive as he is and plays the quarterback position. We’re going to ease him into this thing. He can handle a lot but with the atmosphere being what it is, first game, playing on the road–all that good stuff, we’ll be a little bit cautious of how we approach it in the beginning and see how this gets rolling.”

Denbrock said before the decision on the starter was made that he would tailor the offense to emphasize the strengths of whoever won the job and minimize the weaknesses. He feels that process has gone well. The coaches gained a lot of information on both players during fall camp and had a head start on what to emphasize and what to pull back on.

“Everybody who plays the quarterback position, their eyes see certain things certain ways,” Denbrock said. “Guys have ways that they progress through reads or they are a little quicker at this concept than they are at that concept in the passing game or whatever that happens to be. We just have to make sure we are putting them in the best position to use their strengths to our advantage.”

So what is Notre Dame getting in CJ Carr? Carr says a competitor. Denbrock is like the rest of us.

“I think we are all going to find out,” Denbrock said. “I’m just excited for him. I know the work he’s put in to give himself this opportunity. We’re as anxious to see this whole thing as every Notre Dame fan out there is as anxious to see it. We’ll give him the tools necessary to be successful but really success for us equates around team glory and if that’s a one point victory, we’ll take it and run like our hair is on fire.”

In the end, the emotions of winning this battle all comes back to family for CJ.

“This means everything,” Carr said. “This is what you work for for your whole life really. I was talking to my dad earlier and he said when we were in the competition, ‘if I told you when you were in middle school or high school that you would be at the University of Notre Dame competing to be the starting quarterback, you would have been jumping up and down.’ Then to actually be here and to win the job is amazing.”

Carr makes his first start Sunday night in a top 10 primetime matchup at Miami.