Alex Hornibrook and Mike McGlinchey have things to achieve at Wisconsin and Notre Dame

A lot of folks probably think the biggest job a Wisconsin quarterback has is to hand off to the latest featured Badgers running back running behind another humongous offensive line.

Alex Hornibrook gets it. And that's OK. He knows there's a little more to it than that. And he's about to find out.

"We have a great running tradition here," said the 6-foot-4 lefthander, a third-year sophomore from Malvern Prep and the starter for the nation's 10th-ranked team. "That's obviously going to be a big part of what we do. But I know we have to be able to throw the ball as well. There has to be a mix. That's on me, and I feel pretty confident about that."

Last year, he platooned with senior Bart Houston, passing for 1,262 yards and nine touchdowns (with seven interceptions) for an 11-3 team that lost to Penn State in the Big Ten title game and finished No. 9.

"This is the thing I've been looking to do all my life," said Hornibrook, who originally committed to Pitt before coach Paul Chryst made the move to Madison. "To be in the position I'm in, you kind of want that big responsibility on your back. Being ranked [now] doesn't mean anything. We want to win the conference and play in even bigger [postseason] games.

"I always set goals for myself, but I never really share them with anybody. I write them down and just keep them in my room. It's not always about numbers and awards. You work for the things you can control."

The Badgers, the favorites in the weaker West Division, don't play Ohio State or Penn State in their crossover games. And they get Michigan at home late. So at least on paper it would appear they have a chance to be one of those teams that can be in the playoff conversation come November.

"A successful season for us is knowing we did everythign we could to put ourselves in a position to win a [national] championship," Hornibrook said. "That's where you want to be, for sure."

The Badgers will have to do it without Jack Cichy, one of the country's top linebackers, who suffered a season-ending knee injury at practice in early August.

"He was a center piece of our team," Hornibrook said. "He did so much for us. But that's part of that responsibility thing. It just adds a little more to it. Other guys are going to have to step up and show what they can do."

Even quarterbacks who maybe aren't always asked to do too much.

Notre Dame started 2016 ranked 10th, after going 11-3 and finishing No. 11 the year before.

So naturally the Fighting Irish went 4-8, their worst record in nearly a decade (remember Charlie Weis?).

This year, not shockingly, they're not in the preseason poll.

But graduate student Mike McGlinchey, a 6-7, 290-pound offensive tackle from Penn Charter, is a second-team preseason all-American. He could have left for the NFL after last season, his fourth in South Bend, and done OK for himself. But he opted to return in many ways to seek redemption, both individually and as a teammate.

"I felt like I had a lot of things left to prove," said McGlinchey, who will begin his final collegiate season Saturday at home against Temple, a team they narrowly beat two years ago in South Philly. "It's really hard to leave a school you love in a state like that. It was very hard. At times there was a lot of bad energy in the building. It made it really hard to come to work. You try to keep going. We want to get the program back to where it's supposed to be, at the top of college football. We're ready to compete. That's exactly what we tried to do this entire offseason."

The Irish have a new quarterback in sophomore Brandon Wimbush. Left guard Quenton Nelson, who lines up next to McGlinchey, is rated just as highly by the scouts. They play four teams that are starting in the Top 25 (Georgia, Southern Cal, Miami and Stanford). They don't figure to go 4-8 again. If they do, the question is, do they improve to 7-5 or something even better? Entering his eighth season, Brian Kelly's job could depend on it. And doesn't that 12-0 run to the title game almost seem like it happened decades ago?

"The crappy season definitely took its toll on me," McGlinchey acknowledged. "I didn't know it would hit me as heavy as it did. You start worrying about the wrong things when you're young and you haven't been in that position before.

"I still think football is fun. But mentally and emotionally, the day-to-day stuff, that became a grind. The game gives and takes. It's the best game in the world. But it's a hard one … I struggled with [all the NFL talk] a little bit. Now it doesn't really matter. It will take care of itself. I'm just very fortunate to even have that opportunity."