SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jack Coan admits it is going to be a little strange this Saturday when No. 12 Notre Dame takes on his old team, No. 18 Wisconsin, at Soldier Field.

“It’s definitely going to be weird,” the 22-year-old grad transfer quarterback said. “It’s going to be a lot of my friends I’m going to be playing against, guys I still talk to today. But at the end of the day, it’s just another football game and I like to think I won’t get more excited for one game than the next.”

Both his current coach, Brian Kelly, and his old coach, Paul Chryst, believe Coan will handle his emotions well.

“Jack is a competitor — he loved his time at Wisconsin,” Kelly said. “But it’s a new chapter for him. He’s very mature, level-headed. He wants to beat Wisconsin.”

Said Chryst: “Obviously we have respect for Jack and appreciate who he is as a person and player here. But it’s Wisconsin versus Notre Dame.”

And it’s a big game for both teams. The Badgers (1-1, 0-1 Big Ten) have one of the nation’s stingiest defenses but could use a Top 25 win after its season-opening loss at home to Penn State. The Fighting Irish, meanwhile, have won all three of their games but hardly in dominating fashion.

The 6-foot-3 1/4 , 223-pound Coan, a standout athlete at Sayville (New York) High School, turned down a lacrosse scholarship at Notre Dame to play quarterback at Wisconsin where in 25 games he completed nearly 68% of his passes for 3,278 yards and 23 touchdowns against eight interceptions and went 12-6 as a starter.

Prior to last season, Coan suffered a broken foot that required season-ending surgery. Wisconsin went 4-3 behind quarterback Graham Mertz and elected to go forward with him. So Coan entered the transfer portal after receiving his degree and moved to South Bend last January.

With Notre Dame replacing its all-time winningest quarterback Ian Book, Coan beat out sophomore Drew Pyne and freshman Tyler Buchner. Coan has competed nearly 63% of his passes for 828 yards and eight touchdowns, with four of those coming in an overtime win at Florida State.

Two weeks ago, Coan drove the Irish 75 yards in 26 seconds and threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Michael Mayer with a dislocated middle finger on his throwing hand to beat Toledo. Last week, he overcame a sluggish start to finish 15-of-31 passing for 223 yards and two TDs against Purdue.

There have been some down moments as well. Coan has turned the ball over three times, including two interceptions, and he has been sacked 14 times behind Notre Dame’s rebuilding offensive line – an ominous sign against the fearsome Wisconsin defense. Coan has shared some playing time the last two games with the more mobile Buchner.

“I think my timing was off a little bit (against Purdue) and I need to be a little more accurate,” said Coan, who will be facing a Badgers defense that is first nationally against the run (33 yards allowed per game) and second in total defense (194.5 yards). “I can do my part getting the ball out of my hand and communicating better.”

Coan planned to talk with former teammates this week but figuring out ways to move the ball and score on Wisconsin is the top priority.

“To be honest they do everything well on defense,” he said. “In my four years there it felt like whenever the offense gave up the ball, the defense was there getting a stop. It’s been one of the best defenses in the country. (Defensive coordinator Jim) Leonhard does an amazing job with them. It will be a huge challenge for us. I went against the defense in practice for four years, so I know what they like to do.”

Leonhard always considered Coan a quick learner.

“He was a guy who could see it on tape; he was a guy who could talk it and then (go) apply it on the field,” Leonhard said. “And that’s what I see (from Coan at Notre Dame). He’s just got to have one bad game this year. Outside of that, I wish him the best.”

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FULLERTON, Calif. — Jo Lasorda, the widow of Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, has died. She was 91.

She died Monday night at her home in Fullerton, the team said Tuesday. No cause of death was given.

The former Joan Miller met Tommy Lasorda at a minor league baseball game in her hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, where he was playing for the Spinners. They wed on April 14, 1950, a union that lasted 70 years until Tommy’s death last January at age 93.

Lasorda is survived by daughter Laura and granddaughter Emily, as well as sister Gladys Reeves of Greenville. She was preceded in death by son Tom Jr.

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Moon Alert

There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Aries.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

For the next four weeks, you will need more sleep, because in your chart, the sun will be opposite your sign, which is as far away from you as it can get all year, and the sun is your source of energy. You will focus more on partners, spouses and close friends.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You will work hard to get better organized in the next four weeks because you want to be on top of your game! You want to be healthier and more energetic. Yes, it’s time to turn over a new leaf.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Grab every opportunity to play and have fun in the next four weeks. This is the perfect time for a vacation. Enjoy sports events, fun activities with kids and the entertainment world. Grab every chance to express your creative talents! (TikTok here I come.)

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Your focus will be on home, family and your private life in the next four weeks. Many will interact more with a parent. Home redecorating and improvements plus dealing with increased chaos and activity will demand your attention.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

The pace of your days will accelerate in the next four weeks because of tasks, errands, short trips as well as increased reading, writing and studying. You will enjoy socializing. You will also express yourself with intensity and enthusiasm!

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Your focus on money, cash flow, earnings and your movable possessions will increase in the next four weeks. You will spend more, especially on beautiful things. Fortunately, you will attract money to you. You will also think about your values.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

The sun will be in your sign for the next four weeks giving you a chance to recharge your batteries for the rest of year. This happens only once a year and when it does, you easily attract people and favorable situations to you. This is an excellent time to buy wardrobe treasures.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Your personal year is coming to an end; but your new year will not begin until your birthday. Therefore, the next four weeks are a time of limbo for you. Use this window of time to think about what you want for your new year ahead. Define some goals because they will help you achieve what you want.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

You will enjoy increased popularity in the next four weeks, talking to younger people, creative people, and possibly being active in physical competition with others. This is an excellent time to share your hopes and dreams for the future because someone’s feedback will help you.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

The sun will be at high noon in your chart for the next four weeks, casting you in a flattering spotlight. This happens only once a year and when it does, people are impressed with you even if you don’t do anything special. Use this time to advance your agenda and make your pitch!

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Grab every chance to travel and explore your horizons in the next four weeks because you want to be stimulated. You also want to learn more! This is an excellent time to take a course or go back to school. Explore opportunities in publishing, the law, medicine and the media.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

The next four weeks will be particularly passionate and intense for you. You will be passionate about everything – including romance. Keep your pockets open because you can attract gifts, favors and money to you. A most fortunate time!

If Your Birthday Is Today

Actor Bill Murray (1950) shares your birthday. You are energetic, friendly and always witty. You love mysteries and are a skilled and original communicator. You are also confident in your ability to put your own spin on things. This is an excellent year for you because it’s a time of achievement and recognition. You might get a promotion, an award or acknowledgement of your successful efforts. Bravo!

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NEW YORK — Prosecutors at the R. Kelly sex trafficking trial ended their case Monday after calling dozens of witnesses over the past month who detailed the government’s sweeping allegations against the singer in lurid detail.

The defense began its case later in the day by starting to call Kelly loyalists to the witness stand in an effort to cast doubt on some of the accusers’ accounts.

A New York City jury has heard several women and two men who were in Kelly’s celebrity orbit tell the panel that he groomed them for unwanted sex and psychologically tormented them — mostly when they were teenagers — in episodes dating to the 1990s. Their accounts were backed at least in part by former Kelly employees whose own testimony suggested they were essentially paid off to look the other way or actively enable the recording artist.

Kelly’s lawyers must find ways to counter testimony from accusers alleging perverse misconduct spanning three decades. Among the troubling tableaus: his entourage locking a radio station intern in a room where he sexually assaulted her while she was passed out; witnesses claiming that he gave them herpes without disclosing he had an STD; and Kelly shooting a shaming video of one alleged victim showing her smearing feces on her face as punishment for breaking arbitrary rules meant to protect his fragile ego.

On Monday, Larry Hood, a childhood friend who worked security for Kelly as an off-duty Chicago police officer in the early 2000s, claimed he never witnessed Kelly misbehaving with underage girls. A defense attorney also asked if he saw his friend lock anyone in a room.

“No, sir,” Hood responded. If he saw that, he added, “As a police officer, I would have had to take action against that.”

On cross-examination, Hood admitted the police department fired him in 2007 after a guilty plea in a counterfeit money case, though he got to keep his pension.

A large chunk of the testimony focused on an infamous scandal involving his youngest and most famous alleged victim: R&B phenom Aaliyah. One of the final witnesses described seeing Kelly sexually abusing Aaliyah around 1993, when Aaliyah was only 13 or 14. The former backup performer also told the jury Kelly sexually abused her as well when she was 15 — another in a series of accusers who say he exploited them when they were underage.

Jurors had previously heard evidence about a fraud marriage scheme hatched to protect Kelly after he feared he had impregnated Aaliyah. A marriage license that was put into evidence falsely listed her age as 18; he was 27 at the time.

Aaliyah, whose full name was Aaliyah Dana Haughton, worked with Kelly, who wrote and produced her 1994 debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number.” She died in a plane crash in 2001 at age 22.

The last government witness was an expert witness on abusive relationships. Dawn Hughes testified about studies showing that many abusers systematically isolate, demean, subjugate and spy on their victims as means of control — all tactics allegedly used by Kelly. Generally speaking, it isn’t unusual for powerful people like Kelly to be surrounded by underlings who “knew about it and didn’t do anything,” Hughes said.

The 54-year-old defendant, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges accusing him of running a Chicago-based enterprise of managers, bodyguards and other employees who helped him recruit and transport his victims. That alleged travel violated the Mann Act, which makes it illegal to transport anyone across state lines “for any immoral purpose” — the same law that sent rock legend Chuck Berry to prison in 1959.

Kelly, whose song “I Believe I Can Fly” topped charts, has vehemently denied the charges, claiming that the women were groupies who wanted to take advantage of his fame and fortune until the #MeToo movement turned them against him.

Oddly, members of the press and public haven’t actually seen the jailed Kelly in person since the trial began on Aug. 18. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly has barred people not directly involved in the case from the courtroom in what she called a coronavirus precaution.

Observers are restricted to an overflow courtroom, leaving them to try to follow the case through a video feed.

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There has been no power shortage on the South Side this season. The White Sox’ 174 home runs through Sunday rank 19th in team history, with plenty of opportunity to move up.

Yet the way baseball is played today, the Sox seem almost like a spray-hitting bunch. They’re one of three teams with 400 or more runs scored on balls in play, generating action on the bases.

Major-league teams have averaged 183 homers so far. That leaves the Sox nine below average. First baseman Jose Abreu (30th in the majors with 29 homers) and catcher Yasmani Grandal (22 in 325 plate appearances) have been consistent power sources, but the Sox have been less homer-reliant than most teams.

The American League Central-leading Sox’ 738 runs include 411 on balls in play, trailing only the AL West-leading Astros (444) and AL-East leading Rays (419). Combined with their 327 runs on balls not in play, the Sox rank sixth in the majors in runs, nicely balancing a pitching staff that ranks fourth in fewest runs allowed at 593.

But homers remain king, even though the three AL division leaders also are strong in scoring on balls in play. Major-league teams this season have scored 46.8% of their runs on balls not in play — primarily homers, but also including runs on wild pitches and passed balls and those forced in by bases-loaded walks and hit batsmen.

Of the 10 teams currently in playoff positions, six exceed the major-league average for runs on balls not in play, showing more reliance on homers than average teams.

The National League West-leading Giants (54.7%), NL East-leading Braves (54.02%) and AL wild-card-contending Blue Jays (51.21%) score more than half their runs on balls not in play.

They’re followed by the NL wild-card-contending Dodgers (48.1%), the Rays (47.4%, despite their production on balls in play) and the NL Central-leading Brewers (47.11%).

The wild-card-contending Cardinals in the NL (46.4%) and Red Sox in the AL (46.1%) are nearly at the major-league average, leaving only the Astros (44.3%) and Sox (44.2%) as playoff teams significantly below the major-league average in home-run reliance.

On balls not in play, the Sox have struck out 1,284 times, a tiny bit below the major-league average of 1.298. They’ve drawn 540 walks, a big step up from the major-league average of 486. Their .335 on-base percentage ranks second to the Astros’ .341. There have been runners to drive in.

Contrast that with the Cubs, whose 1,488 strikeouts lead the majors. With 200 homers, the Cubs have scored 51.69% of their 650 runs on balls not in play.

With an average of 1.17 homers per game, the Sox are poised to move up their own list. Averaging 1.17 in their last 13 games would give them another 15. That would take them to 189, 14th in team history and one behind the 2007 team.

That’s a powerful team in the context of Sox history. But in a 2021 major-league context, it’s a Sox team that’s getting the job done in ways other than homers.

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The best thing Justin Fields did Sunday was not a pass or run or block or even a handoff.

It was a doglike scramble on the ground in the third quarter to regain possession of a ball he fumbled at the Bears’ 33-yard line.

If Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson had been able to scoop up the ball — which he would have without Fields’ leaping slap and recovery — he’d have waltzed into the end zone for a touchdown that could’ve been the difference in the game.

A white-knuckle 20-17 Bears victory is simply proof that every game in which the Bears might be leading this year could be lost at almost any moment.

Quite frankly, Fields stunk at quarterback. Let’s be honest. He did some good; he did some bad. But he did more bad than good.

Yet his hustle on a play in which he could have lain on the turf, wealthy quarterback-style, and watched the results — that was nice. It was real.

There’s no great offensive stat for recovering your own fumble. But there’s an intangible one that translates into teammate approval and an infectious desire for winning.

It also means Fields should learn.

First lesson? Pass rushers will come from your blind side. Fast. And they will clobber you, make you fumble, possibly destroy you.

The interception Fields threw in the fourth quarter was another lesson.

The seven-man Bengals rush turned into a sneaky six-man rush when Wilson suddenly dropped into coverage and snagged Fields’ pass intended for Marquise Goodwin.

Don’t think he saw that in the Big Ten.

The best thing for Fields, who could be the de facto starter if Andy Dalton can’t go or keeps getting injured, would be to watch the other NFL quarterbacks — good and bad — and learn from them.

Start with the Buccaneers’ Tom Brady. The dude is 44, says he’ll play till he’s 50 and seems to be getting younger, with thick, rich hair and (maybe?) Gisele’s skin toner in action. On Sunday, he threw five touchdown passes in a win over the Falcons. He has nine in the first two games for the 2-0 Bucs.

Whatever this man is doing, no sane young quarterback should ignore.

Then there was the dazzling display put on Sunday night by the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson.

What the pair did was amazing. Mahomes threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns, and Jackson threw for 239 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. But Jackson rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns, and some of those runs were astounding.

Jackson punctuated his night by joyously flipping into the end zone on a one-yard option late in the fourth quarter. That gave the Ravens the 36-35 victory and made viewers shake their heads in wonder.

Those star quarterbacks made mistakes, but their creativity overwhelmed the flaws. Mahomes’ scrambling, falling sidearm throws were amazing, and Jackson’s jump-pass TD throw was something out of a basketball point guard’s repertoire.

What Fields should see are the risks and rewards of being brazen and making stuff up. Not being crazy, but knowing when breaking the rules will work. He has 4.4 speed in his pocket, and that’s like a gift from the Hall of Fame.

Young quarterbacks go up and down. The Bengals’ Joe Burrow has been all over the map. And there are some, like Jets rookie Zach Wilson, who are just down and may get booed into cave-dwelling. Rookie Mac Jones is playing it safe for the Patriots, and that worked Sunday while beating the Jets.

Fiery Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is so reckless, he simply gets his bum non-throwing shoulder yanked back into its socket after it’s dislocated and keeps playing. And you can believe his teammates respond to that guttiness.

Quarterbacks get hurt all the time. Running ones perhaps most of all. There are so many ways to lead a team, and Fields must figure out what the best way is for him.

Getting hurt does nobody any good. But playing to the edge of injury — simply holding the ball for that extra millisecond — is where the greatness lies.

Little Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray threw for 400 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a touchdown in a win against the Vikings. And he survived.

Fields needs to watch it all and figure it out.

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Mariachi music is deeply rooted in the Mexican American community. It is a nostalgic bridge to the past, but it also remains a steadfast element today in the cultural traditions of families at baptisms, birthdays, weddings and funerals.

It is the music that playwright Jose Cruz Gonzalez grew up with; his parents were avid listeners. And it was the music that many years later he would learn to play, an experience that would inspire his play “American Mariachi,” which is making its Chicago debut at the Goodman Theatre in a co-production with the Dallas Theater Center and as part of the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance’s Destinos Festival.

It all started when Gonzalez noticed a student mariachi group performing on the campus of California State University Los Angeles, where he was a professor of theater arts for 30 years. “I discovered mariachi was a class in the music department and I approached the teacher, and for the next 10 years I took lessons,” he says.

Gonzalez is the first to admit he didn’t “have any kind of musical talent in his body” but he did have the desire to learn and became proficient on the guitarron, the large acoustic bass guitar that is a staple of mariachi groups. He also studied the culture of mariachi, how it is traditionally passed down from father to son and why it’s an important aspect of the Mexican American community and how it’s the soundtrack of many lives.

One day a fellow player mentioned to Gonzalez that she and her group had performed for an elderly woman on her birthday: “She described how when they played a certain song this woman would just come alive and sing along. This idea of music as memory stayed with me.”

“American Mariachi” would grow out of this idea. Set in the 1970s, the story revolves around a young woman Lucha (Tiffany Solano) caring for her mother, Amalia (Gigi Cervantes), who is suffering from dementia. One day, she plays an old record of mariachi songs which sparks her mother’s memory, which in turn inspires Lucha, against her father’s wishes, to create an all-female mariachi band — something unheard of in the ’70s. The cast also features Lucy Godinez, Amanda Raquel Martinez, Molly Hernandez, Gloria Vivica Benavides, Erendira Izguerra and Christopher Llewyn Ramirez.

“A big part of the story is about a young woman’s strength and determination to follow her dreams but it’s also about a family struggling with this disease and a married couple who have drifted apart,” says Gonzalez, whose own mother suffered from dementia.

Lucha (Tiffany Solano) from left, Boli (Lucy Godinez) and Amalia (Gigi Cervantes) are shown in a scene from “American Mariachi.”Liz Lauren

“I think Jose really captures the dynamics of a fractured family and weaves together all these narratives in a really beautiful, heartwarming and heartbreaking way,” says the play’s director Henry Godinez. “And then there’s the music which is just amazing.”

The play is infused with mariachi music and includes members of the Chicago group Sones de Mexico performing on stage along with the actors who learned instruments for their roles. Sones co-founder Victor Pichardo serves as music director. (Sones also partnered with the Goodman Theatre on the lovely musical play “Zulema,” which toured city parks in August.)

Mariachi dates to the 1800s in the countryside of various regions in western Mexico and evolved over time into what Pichardo calls “small orchestras” with a rhythm section, a horn section and a string section.

“Mariachi is happy music but also very passionate music. I think that is what appeals to the listener,” Pichardo says, adding, “I think ‘American Mariachi’ opens hearts and minds and doors for people who want to be part of this tradition.”

Godinez agrees that a goal of the show is to dispel the stereotypes of what mariachi is: “Through the show we come to realize that mariachi is not just something you hear in restaurants and drives you crazy. It actually has deep folkloric roots and has many different genres that weave into it including romantic boleros and polkas.”

“American Mariachi” was set to open at the Dallas Theatre Center in March 2020 but was cancelled because of the pandemic. Godinez says he hopes people feel “a real joy at being back in the theater.”

Adds Gonzalez: “I’m so happy it’s finally on stage with this cast of actors from Chicago and Dallas. This play is filled with such hope, and we really need that right now given all the challenges we’ve all faced in the past few years. It celebrates family, it celebrates life, it celebrates music, it celebrates a culture.”

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