'It's Finally Here!' Mike Elko, Aggies 'Excited' For 'Big Challenge' Notre Dame Presents

All eyes are on the Texas A&M Aggies and Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Week 1, but regardless of outside noise, the Maroon & White remained focused on being themselves and "outworking" their opponent.

Sep 23, 2023; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Conner Weigman (15) looks to throw the ball during the second quarter against the Auburn Tigers at Kyle Field. / Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

An offseason perpetuated by the obvious uphill battle facing the Texas A&M Aggies amid a coaching change made the wait from the end of their contest against the Oklahoma State Cowboys to the week of their first game under Mike Elko extremely drawn out.

For Elko, too drawn out.

"If we could stop trying to reference last year, I think that would be great," the first-year Aggies coach said at the beginning of fall camp. "I think we're nine months removed now. ... we're way past that."

The coach's statement was a simple plea for the narrative to shift from the past to the present, and now that game week has arrived, there isn't any choice. But that doesn't mean the pressure is null.

"Our focus is really simple," Elko said. "We want to be able to go out and play our best football on Saturday night. ... We've had a really, really good fall camp. I'm happy with the progress that we've made across the board."

The main objective for the Aggies Saturday night?

"Go out there every day and outwork Notre Dame," Elko said. "We'll go out and be really fired up for what should be an electric Saturday night at Kyle Field. ... It's finally here."

Doing that isn't going to be an easy task, especially with some loose ends from last year still needing to be tied up. Conner Weigman is back, but still, without a full healthy season, the Aggies will have to play it safe with him, and without Rueben Owens, the running back room is highly in question.

Not to mention the defense Texas A&M is up against.

"Defensively, they were elite last year," Elko said. "They're really elite in the secondary. Benjamin Morrison is one of the best corners in the country. It's a big challenge. It's a challenge that we'll be ready for."

Jul 18, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas A&M offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III speaks to the media at Omni Dallas Hotel. / Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports

As far as the run game is concerned, one of the offensive captains is ready to pick up the slack, and made that clear back during SEC Media Days.

"The sky is our limit this season," Aggies offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III said. "We've had some disappointing years in the past, and we just use that as fuel. It makes us work harder every single day. I can't wait for this season.

"We're going to show people who we are."

With a top-20 ranking already secured, the Aggies have placed themselves in a strong position to make noise this season. Notre Dame boasts a ranking 12 spots higher, but as far as the Maroon & White are concerned, they're facing a "faceless opponent."

Whether they're in the SEC, ranked or unranked, it's the same.

"Our opponent is faceless," Zuhn III said. "We're training every single day to be our best selves, and we're going to go out there and put our best foot forward and play to the best of our ability."

The mindset might be there, but it'll be hard to shake the anticipation surrounding such a high-powered matchup. With College GameDay on-site — something Elko claims will be beneficial — all eyes will be on Kyle Field when the Fighting Irish and the Aggies kick off against each other.

Texas A&M might be buying into it on the outside for the sake of recruiting, but internally, they're focusing on themselves.

Still, the extra attention doesn't hurt.

"Marketing your program is something you have to do in this day and age of college football," Elko said. "Recruiting is still the lifeblood of what you're doing, and recruits live on social media. ... Millions of people are going to be looking at Kyle Field in their living room on Saturday morning.

"That's a tremendous opportunity for our program."