James Aldridge Class: Junior Hometown: St. Louis, MO High School: Merrillville (IN) Height / Weight: 6-0 / 225 Position: Halfback Birthdate: 07/06/1987

CAREER: Notre Dame's leading returning rusher and player with the most career rushing yards on the Irish roster ... rushed for 605 yards during his first two seasons on 158 attempts and caught five passes for 30 yards in his career ... played in 18 games at Notre Dame and started five contests ... member of a talented and young crop of Irish running backs who will compete for the starting job this fall ... split time in the backfield in '07 with Travis Thomas, Armando Allen and Robert Hughes (Allen and Hughes return in '08) ... has eclipsed 100 rushing yards in a game twice in his career and has averaged over 5.0 yards per carry in five contests ... has displayed ability to not only run the ball effectively but also pick up the blitz and serve as a receiving option out of the backfield ... rated the No. 30 running back in the nation by Phil Steele prior to the 2008 season.

2007 (SOPHOMORE): Led the Irish with 463 rushing yards on 121 carries ... started five games and appeared in 11 contests during sophomore season ... started at running back against Michigan State, Purdue, UCLA, Boston College and Air Force ... gained 19 yards on six rushes while splitting time with four other running backs in season opener vs. Georgia Tech ... led the team in rushing with 51 yards against Michigan ... led the Irish in rushing for the second straight game with 104 yards, including a career-high (and team season-high) carry of 43 yards in the second quarter against Michigan State ... became first Irish running back to top 100 yards in first career start since Tony Fisher vs. Kansas on Aug. 28, 1999 ... first Irish running back to eclipse 100 yards, other than departed Darius Walker, since Ryan Grant vs. Navy on Oct. 16, 2004 ... led the Irish in rushing with 52 yards against UCLA ... paced the Irish in rushing against Navy with career high 125 yards ... led the Irish in rushing against Air Force with 62 yards.

2006 (FRESHMAN): Missed the first five games due to a knee injury suffered in the offseason but played in seven of the final eight contests and was Notre Dame's second-leading rusher ... rushed 37 times for 142 yards while playing behind Darius Walker ... strong and powerful runner saw increased reps with the first-string offense as the season progressed ... gained 26 yards on four fourth-quarter carries in his Notre Dame debut vs. Stanford ... rushed seasonhigh 12 times for 33 yards vs. Navy in Baltimore ... collected season-best 45 yards on eight carries vs. North Carolina ... rushed five times at Air Force for 27 yards (5.4 avg) ... totaled nine yards on three carries with a long rush of 10 yards vs. Army ... picked up one yard on two carries at USC ... registered seven yards on three carries against LSU in the Sugar Bowl.

HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: Graduated from Merrillville (Ind.) High School ... one of 16 candidates for Parade All-America High School Football Player of the Year award ... one of nine running backs on Parade prep All-America team ... rated 19th on list of top 100 prep players nationally by USA Today ... rated 26th on Dallas Morning News list of top 100 players in the country ... rated 30th on list of top 100 players nationally by Chicago Sun-Times ... rated 47th on list of top 150 players nationally by CollegeFootballNews.com ... selected for U.S. Army All-American Bowl ... rated 13th on list of top 20 players in Midwest on Detroit Free-Press Best in the Midwest team ... named to Indiana Top 50 all-state team by Indiana Football Coaches Association, as one of seven running backs ... rushed for 1,433 yards and 21 TDs on 237 carries as senior in 2005 at Merrillville High School in Merrillville, Ind. ... caught five passes for 59 yards ... helped team to 11-3 record and semifinal of Indiana Class 5A playoffs ... finished with 3,808 all-purpose yards in two years at Merrillville ... rushed for 110 yards on 25 carries in semifinal loss to Hamilton Southeastern ... rushed 23 times for 227 yards and three TDs in earlier playoff game vs. Crown Point ... first-team running back in '05 on all-area team by Northwest Indiana Times ... listed 58th on '05 preseason list of top players in the country (and 10th among running backs) by The Sporting News ... rated one of top 100 players nationally on '05 preseason list by Lindy's ... one of 14 running backs on '05 national preseason top 100 list by CBS SportsLine.com ... rushed for 2,067 yards and 20 TDs on 281 carries as junior in 2004 ... also caught 11 passes for 190 yards and two TDs and threw a 36-yard TD pass ... accounted for 2,411 all-purpose yards as junior ... transferred to Merrillville from Hazelwood Central High School in St. Louis, Mo., after his sophomore year ... enrolled at Notre Dame in January of '06 ... born July 6, 1987 ... high school coach was Jeff Yelton ... enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters with a major in psychology.