Notre Dame nose guard Louis Nix III is still dreaming big.

When the 6-foot-3, 326-pound junior was asked what goals he wanted to achieve with the Irish, he started by talking about being an All-American at some point in his career.

Then he started dreaming of goals that do not seem as possible for the defensive lineman, who has 42 tackles with 4 ½ for loss this season.

"I want to get in a fullback package, quarterback sneak, maybe catch a pass, return a kick, punt fake, those are a couple of goals I want," Nix said. "I think they are pretty realistic, some people don't. I wanted No. 9 at one point, and I got it. I just keep striving."

Nix has talked about wanting to run an offensive play for most of this season, and he has the backing of his teammates.

"I think they need to lineup Louis in the fullback position and maybe like give him the rock one time," defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore said. "I think that would be kind of cool. I'm a huge fan for it. If I can help out, put me in at tight end for it too."

Center Braxston Cave wouldn't campaign for Nix running a play on offense like Lewis-Moore, but he said he would be OK with Nix getting into the mix on offense.

"He talks about it all the time, but I'll leave that one to Coach Kelly," Cave said.

With No. 1 Notre Dame (11-0) a win over USC (7-4) away from reaching the national championship game, Nix is realistic about his chances of playing offense against the Trojans on Saturday in Los Angeles.

"Ah, no," Nix said of getting to play offense in the regular-season finale.