Notre Dame’s Te’o increases the intensity in practice

For Notre Dame’s decorated senior linebacker, this weeklong mob scene was a laugh riot.

“I’m like, Dad, we complain about the tourists in Hawaii and them driving 10 miles per hour on the highway,” Te’o said Thursday. “And you’re taking pictures of lasagna.”

After that, Te’o played straight man during preparation for the BCS title game against Alabama on Monday. Once refueled after that honors rodeo, the Irish’s leading tackler amped up his energy and effort to levels that, evidently, the Heisman Trophy runner-up hadn’t reached before.

“Manti has actually practiced harder since the award circuit, practiced harder than he has all year long,” defensive coordinator Bob Diaco said. “He has raised his game even as early as last week and leading up to the travel here.”

Moments after Te’o lost out in the Heisman race, he seemed to hoist a chip back on his shoulder. No great mystery to that approach, or the one that followed: He’s playing the biggest game of his life, so he’s acting accordingly.

“If I don’t prepare myself the best I can throughout the week, I won’t be ready for (game day),” Te’o said. “You can’t just turn it on and off. I can’t just slack the whole weekend and when game day comes, say, ‘OK, I’m ready, I’m going to go all out now.’ “

Heartfelt message: Irish linebacker Danny Spond wears No. 13 to honor the number of victims in the 1999 shooting at his alma mater, Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

He doesn’t claim to know the emotions of those crushed by the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., but Spond believes he knows what’s next.

“I was a younger kid, and my family going through that and my community, it’s something that is unspeakable,” Spond said. “It’s hard to even put into words. I don’t have much to say about it, other than the fact that time will heal. It did our community, and I know it will theirs.”