SOUTH BEND — A couple of signature moves have become a regular part of Notre Dame football Saturdays this fall.

First, there’s the “Riley Rumble,” where the towering Irish quarterback makes his way downfield, defenders sliding off harmlessly or getting juked before they can even land a glove on Riley Leonard’s 6-foot-4, 216-pound frame.

As each jaunt concludes, it’s often punctuated with the “Leonard Leap.”

Sometimes this is a headlong hurdle toward the beckoning pylon of the end zone. That’s the way Leonard, the Duke senior transfer, completed his 34-yard touchdown run to open the scoring last week in a 52-3 win over Florida State.

There’s also a variation where Leonard, heading out of bounds and mindful of speeding defenders trying to torpedo his legs and surgically repaired ankle, vaults off the ground vertically like a video game character receiving a boost.

Or, reaching back to Leonard’s basketball past, think splay-legged elevation at the end of a drive down the lane.

Like everything else about his running style, the “Leonard Leap” tends to leave opponents frustrated and flailing.

His teammates love it.

“He makes good business decisions, I’ll say that,” freshman running back Aneyas Williams said with a laugh. “We’ve got a long season ahead of us. As long as he keeps doing that … “

The kickoff show: Where Bryce Young ventures for Notre Dame football, 'destruction' tends to follow

Riley Leonard making history as a runner

In Notre Dame’s steady climb to the nation’s 12^th-ranked scoring offense, Leonard’s dual-threat skills have played an outsized role.

He’s also cemented his reputation as one of the toughest, most instinctive runners in the modern college game.

Earlier this season, Leonard became the first Irish quarterback with back-to-back 100-yard rushing games since Carlyle Holiday in 2001.

Leonard enters Saturday’s Senior Day against Virginia (5-4) with 32 career rushing touchdowns, tied with Dillon Gabriel of Oregon for most among active quarterbacks. Gabriel, now in his sixth season, achieved his totals through previous stays at Central Florida and Oklahoma.

Leonard, after a 2023 season marred by injury, has made 30 career starts. His teams have gone 21-9 in those games.

With his next rushing touchdown, Leonard will have 14 on the year, tying him with Brandon Wimbush (2017) for most in a season by a Notre Dame quarterback. DeShone Kizer, with 10 rushing scores in 2015, is the only other Irish quarterback to reach double figures in a season.

In typical fashion, Leonard downplays questions about his running prowess. Asked what he saw on last week’s long ramble against the Seminoles, where he faked out not one but two defenders along the way, Leonard shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Not much, really. I just kind of run until they tackle me.”

His coaches and teammates know better.

“He’s a tough guy and obviously very good with the ball in his hands,” Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said. “It’s another player on the field (defenses) have to account for, and not everybody has that guy accounted for.”

Not many offenses have a trigger man with Leonard’s instincts and physicality.

“I’m not just talking about read-zone things,” Denbrock said. “Even some of the other scheme things we’ve done with him, he’s just got a knack for understanding it.”

Jayden Daniels, who won the 2023 Heisman Trophy in Denbrock’s LSU offense, averaged 6.3 yards a carry, surpassed 2,000 rushing yards and scored 21 touchdowns in two seasons for the Tigers.

Leonard, who has reached the end zone in all but the season opener at Texas A&M, is averaging 6.3 yards per carry and 68 rushing yards per game. He’s on pace to exceed 800 rushing yards before the College Football Playoff even begins.

“It starts with his size,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said on the eve of the season. “He is a physically impressive person. He can take a hit. … He has speed, he has athleticism and he’s not afraid to run. He wants to run. He wants the ball in his hands.”

Williams, who has become a trusted third-down contributor, has come to admire Leonard’s running talents.

Senior Day homecoming: Chris Tyree, now at Virginia, set to face former Notre Dame football teammates

“That’s one of the biggest things about being a running back: You have to be able to make people miss,” Williams said. “Him having that attribute just adds an extra person for the defense to account for. Having that, at some point it’s going to open up the run game, just like it does drastically throughout the game. You have two people to worry about (as runners) every play.”

Teammate Jordan Botelho on Riley Leonard's toughness: 'He's just different'

Notre Dame Vyper end Jordan Botelho understands as well as anybody the futility of trying to intimidate Leonard.

In September 2023 at Duke, Botelho received a targeting ejection after hitting a sliding Leonard with a helmet to the chest.

“I asked him if he remembers it,” Botelho said earlier this season. “He said he didn’t even feel me. He’s just different. He’s a tough runner.”

Nothing?

“I remember it,” Botelho said, “but he said he didn’t even feel anything. And I believe it. That’s just how he plays. He just keeps going. He doesn’t mind contact at all.”

Once they became teammates, Botelho received further insight into Leonard’s gift for surviving violent collisions.

“He’s strong,” Botelho said. “He’s willing to take on the kill shot, so as a defender, you know you have to be careful. You have to break down, and if you break down, he’ll run you over. And if you think he’ll run you over, he can juke you out. That’s what I’ve seen.”

If Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly was famously recruited at Penn State as a linebacker, what kind of Vyper would Leonard be?

“I think he’d be pretty good,” Botelho said. “He’s tall and he’s quick, too. But I’m happy he’s our quarterback. He’s doing a great job with it.”

The Irish defense, ranked third in the nation in average points allowed, has seen the cumulative effect of solid hits on an opposing quarterback.

“That’s something Coach (Al) Golden talks about: ‘If they’re a running quarterback, they have to pay the toll of running the ball,’“ sophomore linebacker Drayk Bowen said. “When running quarterbacks want to run it, that’s what you have to do. You’ve just got to hit ‘em and hit ‘em, and it will take its toll eventually.”

So far this year with Leonard, that toll has been avoided.

Not even a helmet-to-helmet targeting ejection at Texas A&M on Leonard’s very first run of the year – a 9-yard scramble-and-slide on Notre Dame’s fifth play from scrimmage – could rattle the Irish QB.

“He’s a dog, man,” said wideout Beaux Collins, the Clemson grad transfer. “A lot of people wouldn’t be able to take hits like that and get back up and still have composure. He looked straight to the sideline for the next play. I love him to death.”

The Natural: How Riley Leonard wins over Notre Dame football teammates without forcing it

Leading the way for Riley Leonard

What’s it like to block for a running quarterback like Leonard?

“Honestly, we don’t have to do much,” said wide receiver Kris Mitchell, the Florida International grad transfer. “He’s a big guy. He jumps over people. He stiff-arms people He makes guys miss. We’ve just got to touch ‘em a little bit, and he’s gone.”

Leonard credited Mitchell with a “big-time” block down near the goal line on the 34-yard score against Florida State. That was tied for Leonard’s third-longest run since Duke’s 2023 opener, and it ended with the “Leonard Leap.”

“He’s so athletic, man,” Mitchell said. “You watch him play basketball: He’s 360-ing, windmilling, all types of stuff, It’s cool to watch.”

Leonard’s vertical leap, Mitchell estimated, “would have to be high-30s, at least.”

Junior tight end Eli Raridon, primarily a blocker in so-called “12 personnel,” appreciates the way Leonard sets up his blocks.

“Usually, when he pulls the ball, I’m not really aware of what he’s doing,” Raridon said. “I’m just blocking my guy, but it’s fun to watch (in film review) what he can do. He’s extremely athletic. It’s extremely fun to have a quarterback who can make plays like that.”

Raridon shook his head, just as so many Irish opponents have this year.

“He just makes everything work, to be honest.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football unleashes Riley Leonard the runner