Notre Dame is handling the long break between the regular season and the Jan. 7 BCS National Championship Game about like Alabama is.Then again, Irish coach Brian Kelly talked to other coaches about how to deal with the layoff, and more than one team has examined the way Nick Saban and his staff prepare for the BCS game. After all, he is 3-0 in national title contests.Last week and this week, Irish players have been focusing on conditioning, weightlifting and school work. It's a chance for players who may have lost a few pounds to get back up to weight and gain strength, he said. Notre Dame will hold its first practices on Friday and Saturday, then hold six more practices before players head home Dec. 21. They'll return to campus for practices Dec. 28-31, and then leave for Miami on Jan. 2. They will practice three times in Florida before the game.The early practices will have a preseason camp feel stressing fundamentals and giving younger players more work, then begin to fine tune the practices for Alabama as the game draws nearer, Kelly said.