Robert Hughes isn't feeling sorry for himself. The senior running back from Chicago has endured a star-crossed career at Notre Dame. When he was a freshman, the Irish were 1-7 when Hughes learned that his older brother and mentor, Earl "Tony" Hughes, had been shot to death near their West Side home in north Austin.
After back-to-back 100-yard games in victories over Duke (17 for 110) and Stanford (18 for 136) that salvaged a 3-9 season, Hughes looked like the next great Notre Dame running back. But he was a part-time player in his sophomore and junior seasons.
And when Brian Kelly replaced Charlie Weis as head coach after last year, the 5-11, 245-pound Hughes was the odd man out in Kelly's spread offense. He had just 15 touches through the first nine games, most of them in mop-up situations. And his team was 4-5.
He had a lot to mope about. Instead, he always seems like the happiest guy leaving the practice field. Why?
"I think it all depends on who you are and what your goals and aspirations are in life," said Hughes, who rushed for 1,780 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior at Hubbard High School in 2006. "My goals go way beyond the football field. You have to be a man about the situation. And being 4-5 doesn't mean it's the worst thing. There are a lot of things that can go bad. You continue to right."
Hughes' goals beyond football?
"Just to be a great father one day ... be a great man in general," he said.
As an unintentional reward for that kind of maturity, Hughes has played a key role in Notre Dame's uplifting three-game winning streak. His 1-yard touchdown run broke a 3-3 tie in the Irish's 27-3 victory over Army at Yankee Stadium. And he had 11 carries for 69 yards against USC, including a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:23 to play that gave Notre Dame a 20-16 victory.
The performance against USC gave him the only solace Hughes needs -- that when given the opportunity at Notre Dame, he almost always came through.
In 10 games in which Hughes has had 10 carries or more, he has averaged 4.2 yards or more per carry in nine of them and 5.1 yards per carry overall (164 carries, 840 yards) with nine touchdowns. Notre Dame is 23-28 overall in his four seasons, but 9-1 in those 10 games.
"Like I've been saying my whole career here, when I got my opportunity, I made the most of it," Hughes said after the USC game.
"It's a difficult situation to adjust to. But at the end of the day, you're still a football player. You still have fun seeing your buddies on the team. You're still there between the lines battling with them."
Hughes hasn't always been favored by the coaches he's played for, but he has been a favorite of fans and teammates.
"I love Robert," linebacker Brian Smith said. "That's been a guy who's been with me the whole way. I'm so happy for him. I'm just so proud of him. That's my brother. And I'm just so happy he did his thing."
Hughes still hopes to play in the NFL, but with 41 carries this season, he's a long shot just to get invited to the draft combine.
But the NFL hasn't forgotten him.
"He has a lot of the qualities the NFL people are looking for in a back. He's certainly on the radar of most NFL teams," one NFL scout said. "Their staff has done a good job throughout the fall of keeping us notified of him and his situation."
Regardless of how that turns out, Hughes said he has no regrets about his time at Notre Dame.
"It changes you as a man," he said. "You learn different things. You get a top-notch education. You meet friends you'll have for the rest of your life."
Even if he was in this situation two years ago, he said he would not have transferred.
Why not?
"Because I love Notre Dame," he said.
