Ismail Draws Crowd Wherever He Goes

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — He has run wild against the powerful Pittsburgh Panthers and has left massive Michigan tacklers sprawled on the ground grasping at his jet stream, yet Notre Dame flanker Raghib “Rocket” Ismail was no match for the teen-age contingent he encountered recently at a fast foot restaurant in downtown South Bend.

“It was crowded and nobody really noticed me at first, but then somebody behind the counter says kind of loud, ‘Are you Rocket?’ ” said Ismail, who seemed almost embarrassed as he repeated the story. “I said (whispering), ‘Uh yeah, yeah.’ And I looked around and it was a long line and I had to sign all these autographs. I never got to eat.”

For someone who says he hates being placed on a pedestal by the public, Ismail is finding privacy difficult to come by these days, as he has become perhaps the most recognizable player on college football’s top-rated team. He’s noticed for good reason: Through eight games this season Ismail, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound sophomore, leads the nation in kickoff returns with a 35.58-yard average and ranks 10th in the nation in all-purpose running (153.38 yards per game).

In the season opener against Michigan, Ismail ran back two kickoffs for touchdowns, becoming the first player in college football history to do that twice in his career (he ran two back against Rice last season). So respected is his speed (4.28 in the 40-yard dash) and his uncanny ability to blaze through holes that teams have altered their kicking games against Notre Dame.

“If I kick to him, accidentally or on purpose, I’m going to fire the kicking coach,” said Elliot Uzelac, whose Navy played Notre Dame Saturday. “I don’t want to kick to him because he has a great knack of returning. He just makes you miss.”

And should Navy hold to its commitment not to kick his way, Ismail said he would take it all in stride.

“I look at it as they’re showing respect for our special teams and kickoff returns,” said Ismail, with a Pittsburgh Steelers special teams hat perched on his head. “It’s a compliment to us for our hard work. It’s not going in vain, it’s paying off.”

Ismail, whose family is Islamic and whose first name, Raghib, means “He who is desirous to serve the Lord,” picked up the nickname Rocket as an eighth-grader while running track at Meyers High School in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

“I was doing pretty well and the coach said, ‘Look, he comes out of the blocks like a rocket,’ ” Ismail said last week while sitting in the Notre Dame Athletic and Convocation Center. “Before long it stuck. It stayed with me all through high school.”

It was a nickname he had little difficulty living up to. He gained 313 yards in one game his senior season and scored six touchdowns in another on his way to being named the top back in Pennsylvania by the Touchdown Club in Atlanta. And he, along with younger brother Qadry, who is a redshirt freshmen at Syracuse, helped his team win its second consecutive state track championship by winning the 100 meters (10.63), the long jump (24-3 1/2) and anchoring the 400-meter relay team.

“He’s definitely my biggest recruit,” said Tony Yelovich, a first-year receivers coach for the Irish who recruited Ismail in high school. “You saw the ability he had in high school, you knew he could make the big plays. You didn’t know how fast he would grow, but you know that everything he does is at 100%.”

The Fighting Irish won the fierce recruiting battle for Ismail by beating out Maryland, Syracuse, and Penn State.

“I major in communications and Maryland had a real good program and was in the communications hotbed,” Ismail said, “but my final choice came down to Notre Dame and Syracuse. And Notre Dame, as a whole, is tremendous. The education is as good as you can get anywhere.”

Ismail began his freshmen year hoping to play some on special teams, but he wound up starting at split end in the last seven games of the season, including the Fiesta Bowl. He was the nation’s leading kickoff returner (36.1-yard average) and at season’s end was named an honorable mention All-American by The Sporting News.

Coach Lou Holtz moved Ismail to flanker at the start of this season, and going into Saturday’s game Ismail leads the team in receiving (20 catches, 424 yards, 21.2 yard average), all-purpose yardage (1,227 yards) and is fourth on the team in rushing (46 carries, 294 yards, two touchdowns).

“Rocket Ismail is a member of this football team and makes a significant contribution,” said Holtz, king of the understatement. “He’s a fine talent--he’s adjusted very well in a lot of areas.”

Suddenly, with no clear standout for this year’s Heisman Trophy, the name Rocket is beginning to be launched into the ranks of the front-runners. But it’s hype he’d rather not be a part of.

“It’s just something to talk about when people get bored--’Hey, how about the Ismail kid,’ ” he said, appearing somewhat nervous about all this talk of himself. “I don’t think what I’ve done warrants a mention; I don’t really like to talk about it.”