Notre Dame WR Floyd, LB Smith to miss a month

Nov 17, 2008 - 4:44 PM SOUTH BEND, Indiana (Ticker) -- Notre Dame freshman wide receiver Michael Floyd and sophomore linebacker Brian Smith will be out for a month after suffering knee injuries in the first quarter of Saturday's 27-21 victory at Navy.

Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis said both players will miss the final two regular-season games against Syracuse and Southern California.

However, Weis indicated that they likely would be back in time for a potential bowl game. Notre Dame (6-4) became bowl eligible with its victory over the Midshipmen.

"There's bad and good with that," Weis said. "The bad is they miss the next two games. But the good is there will, in all likelihood, be another game after that. And they will have a couple weeks to get conditioned because their knees will be fine by that time."

The 6-3, 215-pound Floyd has shown promise for the Fighting Irish, leading the team with 46 receptions for 702 yards and seven touchdowns. Floyd has set school freshman records in all three categories.

Smith is Notre Dame's fourth-leading tackler with 53 tackles, including two sacks.