Eric Hansen

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -  It was roughly a year ago that Notre Dame offensive lineman Chris Stewart called his parents in suburban Houston, asked them to buy a one-way plane ticket and then said goodbye to Notre Dame for what he thought at the time would be for good.

It was just days after teammate and classmate Konrad Reuland had bolted without a new destination in mind. In fact, beginning in June, Irish head football coach Charlie Weis would witness an alarming exodus from his vaunted 28-man recruiting class, Weis' second overall but first that caused a stir in college football circles.

Quarterback Zach Frazer (now the de facto starter at Connecticut) left in June, followed by quarterback Demetrius Jones (Cincinnati) and, tight end Reuland (Saddleback Community College) in September, then Stewart at the end of that month, offensive guard Matt Carufel (Minnesota) in mid-October and finally cornerback Munir Prince (Missouri) after the semester.

Stewart, buried on the depth chart at the time, was the only one to make a U-turn, the only one who walked back into the nightmare of a season for the long haul. Saturday as Notre Dame (3-1) clashes with Stanford (3-2) at Notre Dame Stadium, the 6-foot-5, 339-pound junior and the Irish are both miles away from they were in 2007.

Stewart, who pushed into the depth chart shortly after his return, is now the starting right guard on a resurgent Irish offensive line. And ND, in large part due to the improved play of that line, has already matched its 2007 win total.

“The decision to leave and ultimately the decision to come back was more of a maturity thing,” Stewart said. “I’m a more mature person, I can see. I think upon getting back, it was a rededication, coming back as a different person, kind of knowing what to expect, what the obstacles are, what’s a better way to confront them, and just knowing that hey you have to grow up and be a man.

“I can’t say it’s all on me that everything happened because I did this, I did this. A lot of blessings happened, a lot of things fell into place here and there. On top of that was the realization that I needed to work harder.”

The hard work of Stewart and his linemates makes them the players to watch for Notre Dame against Stanford. So does the potential for sacks by the Stanford defense.

Last season, in ND’s regular-season finale, Stanford recorded five sacks in a 21-14 Cardinal loss to give the Irish an NCAA-record 58 on the season. This season the Irish have only allowed four sacks in their first four games. Stanford, meanwhile, is among the nation’s leaders, getting three per game.

On the opposing sideline will be one of Stewart’s close friends -- Reuland. The junior tight end, who just became eligible per NCAA transfer rules last weekend, is only expected to play in an emergency. Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh is leaning toward redshirting Reuland.

Reuland initially transferred to Saddleback Community College in his hometown of Mission Viejo, Calif., before landing at Stanford.

“I still keep in contact with Konrad,” Stewart said. “But this week I’m going to wait until after the game to talk to him.”

Because Reuland is much more likely to be a bystander than a factor in Saturday’s game, he is not the Cardinal player to watch. Another player with sort of a Notre Dame connection is, though -- free safety Sean Wiser.

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The 6-foot-2, 194-pound redshirt freshman was a high school teammate of Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen at national prep power Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, Calif. In fact, Wiser was one of Clausen’s favorite receiving targets (60 receptions, 16 TDs their senior year of 2006).

Wiser didn’t see his first college action until game 2 of this season, but he moved into the starting lineup the very next week. Saturday he’ll try to make life miserable for his old teammate, who is coming off a career-best 275-yard passing game against Purdue.

Wiser has 20 tackles and a pass break-up since joining the Cardinal lineup.

“It's going to be fun playing against him for the first time,” Clausen said. “I've never played against him unless I was throwing for the scout team during high school.

“We've been best friends for a long time. I've known him pretty much my whole life -- went to elementary school, middle school, high school together, so we're real close. We trash-talk back and forth. He said they're going to get after us this Saturday. Whatever we have to do to win the game, that is what I am going to do.”