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Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, quarterback Kurtis Rourke, running back Justice Ellison, offensive lineman Mike Katic, defensive lineman James Carpenter and linebackers Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker spoke with the media on Friday night in South Bend following Indiana's loss to Notre Dame.

Below are their full Q&As, as well as a full transcript for each of their conversations.

CURT CIGNETTI: All good things come to an end. And when you're my age, you've seen it all. And I have a lot of guys hurting in there but a part of life is learning how to deal with disappointment the proper way and come back a stronger person because of the experience. You never get everything you want in life. That's how life is. But it doesn't diminish what these guys accomplished, for sure this season which everyone in this room can detail out what this team's accomplished. A lot of firsts. So proud of them. It's easy to say we didn't play our best game, but a lot of that was probably because of who we played. I thought Riley Leonard was excellent handling the pressure, getting rid of the ball. Defensively they pretty much suffocated our offense until the last minute and a half of the game. And their skill guys made good plays. They played well. And they beat us (indiscernible). And I am happy that our guys didn't give up and pounded those two scores in on two-minute drives at the end. You just never know. You make that two-point play and you recover one more kick, it's just a crazy game, right? I mean, the way it was going, you're looking at the game saying to yourself, well, this is probably going to end up about 40-3 or something like that. I'm not saying that, but you're probably thinking that. Here you are scoring, 27-17, with an opportunity to make a two-point conversion, kick another onside kick to tie the game. So, Notre Dame is a good football team. Wish them the best of luck moving forward. And I'm proud of our guys.

Q. Curt, just in terms of, I don't know if you would pin it on any one thing, whether it's the offense, the pick, maybe some of the third downs, did you feel like your team never got off its heels?

CURT CIGNETTI: Absolutely, we completed that long pass to Sarratt early in the game. Got down there and threw that interception on a tempo play. They came out, a 98-yard, guy in the wrong gap. You know what I mean? We can't catch them -- bigger, stronger, faster. It was tough sledding.

Q. You hinted what your answer might be, but in terms of -- you mentioned missed tackles during every interview during the game. What do you attribute some of those things to? They didn't crop during the season, but tonight was it just their skill players being faster --

CURT CIGNETTI: When you play good people who move faster, quicker change of direction, they're harder to tackle. I think that was the case tonight a lot of times.

Q. Notre Dame was 5-of-7 on third down in the first half. What were they doing to make it difficult to keep them from getting off the field?

CURT CIGNETTI: Well, I can't remember every single play off the top of my head, to be honest with you. I do remember Riley Leonard, us having Riley Leonard in our grasp and him still being able to complete the throw with the receiver making a nice catch to extend drives. I think they made a number of nice catches that I can recall -- low, here, there. There was a point in the game it appeared we were starting to put some pressure on Riley Leonard, near the end of the first half, we were getting closer and closer. But, again, I give him a lot of credit. He's a really good athlete with a quick release that played a lot of football. He's got body quickness and twitch. And he's able to get rid of that ball and throw the check-down to the running back and get a positive play. Not everybody who plays that position can make that play. I'm not sure that really answers your question, but they made plays and we didn't.

Q. When you think about everything that this team accomplished this year, how do you think this team should be remembered?

CURT CIGNETTI: You are what your record says you are. So, 11-2. Tied for second in the Big Ten. Made the College Football Playoff. And packed the stadium. Made a lot of people proud. And had a historic season. So set the foundation for hopefully what's to come.

Q. Right now what do you think the biggest difference between a team like Notre Dame and a team like Indiana is right now?

CURT CIGNETTI: They've probably got more depth than we do. They probably have some front-line guys that are just a little bit bigger, stronger, faster than our guys.

Q. You guys were down 23, I think 11, 12 minutes to go, three scores behind you. You decided to punt there. What went through your mind not going for it?

CURT CIGNETTI: I didn't want to punt, but I didn't want to go fourth-and-10. It's like you're wishing and hoping. You have nothing to base it on that you can convert fourth-and-10 at that point. And there's still time to punt if you win the game. So that was the reason why. I didn't want to do it. But I felt like it was the best move.

Q. Your offense just getting three points until the last minute and a half, whatever it was, what were the biggest issues? Was it Notre Dame playing well or were there things you look back maybe we could have done A, B or C?

CURT CIGNETTI: I think they played well. There were probably some pretty ordinary things that we normally would execute that we didn't get done very well. I can remember Miles Cross coming wide open on a corner route. We overthrow them. There were things like that. But they put the pressure on us. They have good players. And they won the line of scrimmage. They won the one-on-one match-ups on the perimeter. They affected the quarterback and they swarmed to the ball.

Q. I want to say you mentioned that you want the whole year to kind of just set the stage. Why is this stage and a height like this achievable?

CURT CIGNETTI: This team earned it -- the right to be here. I'm not sure we proved tonight to a lot of people. Repeat your question again.

Q. Long term, as you look ahead, why are heights like this (indiscernible)?

CURT CIGNETTI: Everything is about recruitment and development and now retention. Every year you've got to start over now in college football. It's not quite the NFL but it's getting close. So you can change a lot of things in a year. Now, the one thing about the way the calendar is set right now if you do make the College Football Playoff, you're kind of penalized in the portal recruiting area because, like, we didn't have official visits this week because I wanted 100 percent focus in preparation for Notre Dame. So that's time that last year we were spending on the portal. But we've got a good nucleus coming back, and we'll be okay.

Q. What is the plan for the next week or so in terms of getting the portal, everything dialed in?

CURT CIGNETTI: We'll get back at 3:50 in the morning. We have seven recruits on campus tomorrow morning on official visits. And Saturday and Sunday we can have them on. Monday is dead; it's a dead period, all the way until January the 5th. And then we have one week we can bring portal guys in for official visits from the 6th to the 12th of January. But understand that probably 80 percent of the portal guys that are good players have made their decisions already. That's just where we're at.

Q. Kurtis Rourke, his struggles through first three-quarters of the game, what do you attribute to that, them getting pressure, him not feeling comfortable in the pocket? What did you see from Kurtis tonight?

MIKE SHANAHAN: I thought we actually did a pretty good job of protection for most of the game. They made it really challenging on you to get completions and get him in rhythm. I think we had a drop early on on an RPO. And credit to Notre Dame's defensive backs. That's a really good unit, one of the better units we faced all year long. And we weren't able to win some of those 50/50 contested catches that we knew we were going to have to win a good amount of those in this game to have success. Again, credit to Notre Dame. They challenged us and they got the better of us on those kind of throws.

Q. I know that everyone -- you respected Notre Dame's defensive line, but tonight they just looked quicker as opposed to out-manning the offensive line and causing those problems they were causing for Kurtis.

MIKE SHANAHAN: That's a good unit. They're just a really good defense. They did some movement stuff up front. They were blitzing one or two backers a lot throughout the game as well. And I thought we cracked some runs. It made it hard whenever we got behind schedule. And we were trying to run the ball at times on third down to get us in a fourth-and-manageable or obviously we felt like those runs could convert as well. It was a combination of some of the movement and the blitzing that they had in their plan. And I thought we were a little bit inconsistent in picking that it up at times. But I know our guys up front battled. They made it hard on us, they really did.

Q. Not asking you to second-guess necessarily, but you guys have been so good at getting Kurtis in that rhythm that you talk about, especially with the RPOs, letting him make those decisions and just get a good feel of the game. As a play caller, what's the difficulty in maybe the balance in a game like this where you see your quarterback's not in rhythm between persisting with what's gotten him all season versus trying to change something up, trying to throw something different at them, maybe seeing if that maybe breaks his funk.

MIKE SHANAHAN: All year long, we tried to have that good balance of RPOs but run at runs where he might be reading somebody or we're using a receiver in motion to block, the extra hat in the box and create misfits. Along with RPOs, along with the quick game, along with us trying to throw the ball down the field and create explosive plays in that way, that was our plan in this game as well. I thought Kurtis made some good decisions. The D line batted one or two of his passes away where he had guys open, and that's sort of the give and takes at times that you have. But I felt like Kurtis was seeing it well out there on the field. I thought he was making the right decision. There may have been one or two throughout the game, especially early on. But once he got settled in, I didn't think his decision-making was the issue at all. Again, they did a good job switching up their coverages. Just when we thought we had something, then they would change it up. And that was that cat-and-mouse game that we were playing?

Q. You guys got the interception and the pass to Elijah early on and got down in the red zone. Went pretty quick on the next play and he threw the pick. Looked like there was double coverage there. Did you mean to go that quick? And what did you see and what happened on the interception?

MIKE SHANAHAN: Part of our plan was to change up the tempos. And that's something that we do every game. And you just want to keep the defense on their heels. If I remember correctly, I think they subbed -- they were in their third down defense, and we were trying to catch them in a substitution after a big play. Kurtis, I think, the first read was there. He worked through the progression. And he has made that throw a thousand times, a little bit off the target. And No. 0, he's been making great plays all year long for those guys. And he made another great catch. That was the one thing about that first half. We had the ball, I think, in the red zone twice. Came away with three points. And against a good team like this you've got to capitalize on those things.

Q. You mentioned red zone, but you guys were at the 50 or in Notre Dame territory four drives in that first half. What did they do to prevent you from getting into scoring zones or making the most of those opportunities?

MIKE SHANAHAN: I think it refers back to the question earlier. The D line created some penetration. We were trying to establish the run, which we were doing a good job of. We had some runs come out early in the first half. And whenever we went back to it, maybe it was a one-yard gain or they were in the backfield for a TFL. Kind of got off schedule there, and weren't able to overcome whenever we got behind the chains. Again, credit to their defense and their plan. Yeah, that was tough whenever we couldn't capitalize on good field position.

Q. Big picture, with everything this team accomplished this season, how should this team be remembered?

MIKE SHANAHAN: I hope they're remembered for the way they played all year long and not just this one game. But I know that these guys have really battled and I think you saw that there in the fourth quarter. There was no give-up. And just really proud of the way they came in and approached their work all year long. It was a really fun group to coach. Everybody bought in. But I guess the record and the history books kind of speak for themselves. And hopefully they're a team that's remembered for a long time.

Q. Bryant, it seemed like there were a lot of moments when the pressure almost gets there and either Leonard slips away, gets the ball out, a tough catch somewhere. Did you feel like it was kind of one where a lot of the plays that you've been making that have set teams really far behind the chains this season were kind of just maybe an inch a little too far away at times tonight?

BRYANT HAINES: Yeah, that's exactly how I felt. I thought the guys competed, played hard. All credit to Notre Dame. That's a good football team. I thought that quarterback played really well. I thought he would make a few errors here and there. But he didn't seem to. He seemed composed. And, like you said, we weren't able to rattle him. We didn't get home -- we came close to getting home. Especially against a good athlete, getting close to getting home just wasn't enough. He wasn't affected and stood in the pocket, delivered the throws he needed to throw and took what we gave him. He was very composed and had a great game.

Q. Along that same theme, I mean, I think it was 5 of 7 in third down in the first half. How demoralizing is that? And how tough is it to come back from the demoralizing effect when Leonard is able to make plays with his legs and keep third down drives alive?

BRYANT HAINES: That's the most frustrating thing that you can do have to a defense is they keep the drive going. They did a good job staying on schedule. Some of the third downs were third-and-three and third-and-four. Those are a little tougher to win than your third-and-11 and third-and-12s. They stayed in rhythm and kept us on the field. We got a little bit tired and just didn't make the plays we had to make. But yeah, credit goes to them. That's a really good football team. I was probably maybe a hair more conservative than, looking back, wish I would have been. Maybe I should have brought that one extra guy. Maybe that would have been the difference.

Q. When you're looking at a team like Notre Dame or even back to that loss against Ohio State, what's the biggest difference in your eyes between teams like that and a team like your Indiana team right now?

BRYANT HAINES: The thing I notice is the margin for error is just so small. They get the ball on the minus-2-yard line. I put in a simple kind of gapped-out call. I was thinking of being even more aggressive. I was talking to Aiden Fisher; you want to go attack them, maybe we can get two points here? No, let's put in a nice conservative call. You misfit it a little bit and the thing rips you for 98 yards and six points. That's how small the margin for error is against elite teams. I felt that way against Ohio State. I felt that way again tonight.

Q. Did you get a chance to talk to James Carpenter after the game? He's called for the penalty, obviously not on purpose, mistake. It's his last game. You've been with him forever. What do you tell him? And how tough in that moment just to see it happen to a guy who's worked so hard for you?

BRYANT HAINES: I'm sure he's down on himself. I got a chance to give him a quick hug. But I'm sure there's a lot of emotional guys in the locker room and guys I've been with a long time and love. Do I fault him for making that mistake? No. That guy is going to play as hard as he can possibly play every single snap on the field. How can you hate that? Do I wish he had pulled off? Sure, but I love him for who he is and how hard he plays.

Q. How do you manage the emotions of a year where you re-energize a town, completely change a mindset and then ultimately end like this?

BRYANT HAINES: I think you just try to build off of it. I think what we have here is a foundation. I think that -- I told some of the guys that are hurting in that locker room, like, we built something here. This is a building block. This is a foundation that's laid. And now the standards are up. I'm just proud. I'm proud of the unit. And I'm bummed about tonight, they're bummed about tonight. We could have done a lot of things better. But it doesn't take away from what we've accomplished. It's the first step to many.

Q. The season on the whole you had a lot of really good performances, holding Nebraska to, I think, one score, shut out Purdue, number of other things. Why do you think you guys played at the level you did this year? And is this a level that you can tell future recruits, this is how you do it at Indiana?

BRYANT HAINES: To your last question, that's 100 percent what I'm going to tell recruits. I'm going to say this is Indiana football, Indiana defense. Do you want to be a part of this? We stop the run. We harass quarterbacks. Tonight doesn't change that. Yeah, that's what I'm going to tell recruits. Just thankful for the season along the way -- the ups and the downs, and just a good season overall. I'm bummed about the night, again. But credit to Notre Dame. They did the things they needed to do. We just couldn't make the plays we had to.

Q. What would you remember most about this team, this group of players? And what should, I guess, fans remember most about this team?

BRYANT HAINES: That's a good one. There's a lot of good memories there. I think I'll look back and just remember how much they've changed things. And, again, this is coming from a guy that was here before. I was in those locker rooms. I was at Indiana. I know what it meant to be an Indiana football player in 2012. It's a different era now, and these guys changed it forever.

Q. You said you were a little bit more conservative than you wanted to be. Did you go into the game wanting to be aggressive, and then it sort of changed based on how the game was going? Or how would you explain that?

BRYANT HAINES: I mean, that's exactly it. In my mind I saw a chance of being aggressive. But, again, a lot of it for me is the flow of the game. Whether it be like how was the offense doing? What's the field position? I wanted to be aggressive against Ohio State. Maybe they get the ball on the 30-yard line. That changes things. There's some situational football in there. But I guess, all said and done, looking back at it, especially on third down, I had intentions of being a little more aggressive. But that 35 seconds goes fast. You've got to come up with a call, put it all together. And hindsight is 20/20.

Q. Mike, I'll ask you to pull together six years in 30 seconds probably, but you saw this program rise and then dip and then rise again. How do you sort of, if you are giving someone the elevator speech of what Indiana football is capable of based on what you've experienced and been a part of, what is it?

MIKE KATIC: I know the history of Indiana football and I'm really excited about the future of it. But just a gritty group of guys that come to work every day and put everything into their body of work and just really proud of this team and how we came out this season.

Q. Kurtis, it looked like it was just difficult to get in the kind of rhythm that you're accustomed to being in this year. What was Notre Dame doing to make it difficult to achieve the rhythm?

KURTIS ROURKE: Just there wasn't really anything new that we expected them to do. They came out and did what we expected. And just a lack of execution on my part and just didn't help finishing some drives. I just gotta be better in finishing those drives like we were able to in the fourth quarter, but I just need to be better.

Q. Kurtis, what did you see in the early interception? Did it take you a minute to get back in sync after that or a little while to kind of get in the flow of the game?

KURTIS ROURKE: Yeah, it was just man-to-man coverage. Just trying to get them just with a tempo play. And just threw it a little bit too far and the defender made a nice play. But didn't need to make that throw in that situation.

Q. Justice, you said you came to Indiana to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Do you feel you set the future for the Indiana football now?

JUSTICE ELLISON: Without a doubt. I got a little emotional at the end of the game because I feel like Indiana university, Bloomington, it gave me an opportunity. I was on my full fifth year, and I took a chance and I came to a town, I was like, hey, I want to be able to make something out of it. So I believe that this year it's hard as a competitor to kind of like be settled with what you've done in the past. But we've done a lot. I think the foundation is something that I wanted to start. Leave a legacy with the guys that come in every single day working hard, loving each other, sacrificing -- blood, sweat, tears, every single day. And I plan to come back and see how far the foundation has grown.

Q. Mike, what are you proudest of?

MIKE KATIC: As a whole, I'm so proud of how this team has played this season as usually the underdog. A lot of people doubted us all year, but we kind of stuck to us. We kind of just relied on each other in each room. And we proved a lot of people wrong. And there's so much more to be proud of. But I don't want to get too emotional up here.

Q. What made Notre Dame's defensive front so difficult to deal with tonight?

MIKE KATIC: I think up front, they're not the biggest group, but they're super twitchy and fast. And they're bringing a lot of different packages and movements and bringing the linebackers, cross dogs, arrows, kind of all that different things. And up front they really didn't play us straight all game. They were always moving and doing different things. But that's kind of what I saw up front.

Q. Kurtis, I guess what are you most proud of? And how emotional is it that it's over?

KURTIS ROURKE: I'm just proud of the guys and this journey. A lot of us have been new to this program this year. And the guys that have been here for years, like Mike, just so proud of how we've come together as a team and been able to make a memorable season like it has been. Although it wasn't the way we wanted to end it, glad we were able to do it together and kind of start the dynasty of Indiana as it moves forward. And I was looking forward to watching it, but it really hasn't set in for me that this was lit for me in college. But it definitely hurts.

Q. Kurtis, you mentioned lack of execution tonight. Was that something that they were doing specifically defensively that led to that?

KURTIS ROURKE: I just didn't play in rhythm myself. My eyes weren't in the best spots sometimes, and it's easier to play when you're in rhythm. And I didn't help myself that way. And Notre Dame definitely has some great players and schemed well. But I feel like I hurt the offense more than they stopped us.

Q. Mike, what would you remember most about this team, this group of guys? And how should fans remember this team?

MIKE KATIC: I'm going to remember this team as the closest team that I've ever been a part of. Just a group of guys that came to work every day and left everything out there. I'm so happy that I could have been a part of it. I'm so happy that I made the decision to come back. And I think fans and everyone should see what we did this year. We changed the trajectory of Indiana football. We changed the way people think about Indiana football. And I'm just so happy that I could have been a part of it. I'm so thankful to all these guys and all my teammates and coaches that we -- it's just awesome to be a part of and I'm so happy and blessed.

Q. Aiden, what did you sort of see on the 98-yard run there early in the game?

AIDEN FISHER: Just a misfit on the front seven really. We knew what we were going to get. We played it a little too aggressive. Some guys jumped out of their gaps. I'll take the fall for that one. We have to play our gaps better and play more disciplined.

Q. James, you get called for penalty, how tough is it in that moment on this big stage to have that happened and then stay focused credit for the blocked field goal, what were the emotions like in that second half, the ups and downs, highs and lows for you?

JAMES CARPENTER: It was disappointing, I can't be doing that. It was full speed, kind of bang, bang play. But as a senior leader I can't be doing that. But this team, we don't quit. That's what we're built on. And, yeah, I mean, we're going to fight until the end.

Q. James, Notre Dame was good on third down tonight especially in the first half. When you have a quarterback like Riley Leonard, how difficult is it to account for that as he's kind of keeping plays alive and keeping things going?

JAMES CARPENTER: One of our main focuses going into this game was to limit him on the ground. When the play breaks down we know he can get out. He's super athletic and super fast. It's a big part of his game. We didn't do a good enough job of that tonight. You really have to be sound when it comes to that. It's (indiscernible) the front four, just good lanes, good pass rush lanes, stuff like that. And we just didn't do a good enough job of that tonight.

Q. Aiden, the theme has kind of been you guys set the foundation for what's to come next year. Do you believe that this year set that foundation for a better future for Indiana football?

AIDEN FISHER: Yeah, for sure. You look at the track that Indiana football is on previously before we got here. Then you look now, it's kind of a full 180. I think we've laid a foundation of what Indiana football can be and what it is now, and I expect to be right back here next year.

Q. Jailin or James, either one of you, you talked so much about the identity you brought from James Madison. Aiden talks about leading the foundations there. Do you feel like you leave behind you, not just the success of this season, but the identity of this defense, the way you were able to pressure quarterbacks, stop the run, be aggressive the way Coach Haines talks about, do you feel that's something that imprints on this program and stays even as you guys move on?

JAILIN WALKER: 100 percent. That's the image of the defense bing fast. When James and I are leaving, we still have Aiden Fisher and Mikail Kamara, we still have leaders on this team that's been with the system. It will still keep going. We're not letting up. JAMES CARPENTER: He said it well. It's kind of our identity of the defense, play fast, get up field, make plays in the backfield. That's kind of what this defense is built on, and I know Coach Haines will keep that going.

Q. Aiden, when you look at the only two losses this season against Notre Dame and Ohio State what's difference about those teams and what makes them so good and tough to play?

AIDEN FISHER: Definitely two great teams. They definitely played a great football game tonight, as did Ohio State. We played them. I would just say we made a lot of critical errors that was hard to play two teams playing against yourself and playing against the opposing team. A lot of things I think we could control and we kind of let it affect us a lot. Just looking back on it, just two great teams. I'm not really going to compare them. But they'll both be making a run here in the playoffs. So good for them; they deserved to win today, they played a better game today than we did.

Q. James, last week you called it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be in a position like this. Obviously it didn't go your way tonight. On the whole, what will you remember about this season and this group of guys and what should everybody else remember most about this team?

JAMES CARPENTER: Coming into this year, no one thought we'd be here. A lot of doubters, a lot of haters. For us to kind of make this run, get to this point, it's been surreal. It's been unbelievable. Something I'll remember for the rest of my life. These guys up here, the rest of the guys on the team, hopefully they'll be at my wedding, brothers for life. That's the kind of bond we have. And this program is only going up. Coach Cig is just getting started here. He wins. He's going to get it done and this program's on the right track.

Q. Aiden, just big picture, the way you guys played defense all year, why do you feel you were so successful? And what are the things that need to stay for the defense to sort of make this a level you maintain?

AIDEN FISHER: First, you start with the scheme. We had a really good scheme. Coach Haines puts us in, he puts us in positions to succeed. We're a fast defense. A lot of people look at our defense, you know, we're not the biggest guys. But we do have speed, which kind of combats a lot of the things that these offenses do. And then moving forward, I would just say we've got to stay disciplined. You look at the two losses we had last year, we're just getting out-leveraged in angles. We're just one guy just trying to do a little too much and he doesn't need to. We got to this point just being ourselves and playing the way that we play, and in these big games you can't defer from that; you've got to just play your game and just be disciplined in the way you play, and just things like that, just the little things that ultimately amounted to the big things.

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