Sports

ND gives Brooklyn star a Fighting chance

IRISH AYES: Notre Dame linebacker Ishaq Williams, from Brooklyn (11), breaks into a smile as he celebrates the Fighting Irish’s season-opening 50-10 victory over Navy in Dublin, Ireland, on Sept. 1. (
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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Ask any parent when they knew their child had matured and the answers will astound you. It’s a phone call, saying he or she will be home late, or an email with details about a date or a text stating that a final went well.

Brooklyn’s Ishaq Williams, the emerging outside linebacker at Notre Dame, delivered his message in a less traditional way: He changed his pants.

Williams, the former Lincoln High star, had developed a penchant for fancy clothes and designer jeans. But when he returned home after his freshman season in South Bend, Ind., his True Religion jeans were gone.

Williams was wearing generic jeans or sweats. He wasn’t fixed on going out. He had become grounded.

“That’s when I knew he was beginning to truly understand what was important,’’ Williams’ father, Shaun, told The Post. “And then I watched the Navy game on TV. I hadn’t seen him smile like that in years. It was like he was 10 years old again and just happy to playing.’’

Notre Dame fans hope to see that smile tonight (8 p.m., ABC) when the Fighting Irish try to open 3-0 for the first time since 2002 by winning at Michigan State. The Spartans (2-0), however, have won 14 straight at home, and they have not rinsed away the bile of last season’s 31-13 beat down in South Bend.

“That game was really out of character, and we didn’t feel like we played the tough, physical brand of Michigan State football that we are accustomed to playing and we want to play every week,” Spartans quarterback Andrew Maxwell said. “That was something that really didn’t sit well for us, and that’s not something we are accustomed to or used to. And that’s not something that we want to be accused of come [tonight].”

Oh, it will be physical at Spartan Stadium, which is fine with both teams. In his third season, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said he believes he finally has the depth and toughness on both lines to succeed.

“That’s a good feeling right away that you know you’re going to go out there and be able to handle yourselves physically,’’ he said.

Which brings us back to Williams, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound sophomore.

He is the physical kind of defender Notre Dame was missing when Kelly first got to South Bend. Kelly won over Williams (Penn State and Syracuse were the other finalists) by making a visit to Shaun’s home in Clinton Hill.

“I was coming down the street and I saw this big SUV in front of my house and I thought it was the FBI or something,’’ said Shaun. “Coach Kelly was like a rock star. It was very impressive.’’

The Notre Dame coaches expected Williams to make an impression early. He did not start last season, but he didn’t redshirt either.

What Williams had to do was make the transition — athletically, academically and culturally — from the streets of Brooklyn to the rural American lifestyle of South Bend and the intensity of a major FBS program.

“Everything was different,’’ Ishaq told The Post. “I knew it was going to take a lot of hard work, and that’s something I’ve never been afraid of. I knew it would come. I just had to keep working.’’

The work paid off in the season-opening 50-10 win over Navy. Williams had four tackles, including three solo, and a forced fumble which led to Stephon Tuitt’s 77-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

“He’s grown up.” Kelly said. “He’s a kid; Brooklyn, New York, he’s in a very dynamic atmosphere where on a day to day basis, he’s got to bring his ‘A’ game, in the classroom, in the dorms, in the football program.”