FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. » At 5 feet 9 and 185 pounds, Notre Dame receiver Robby Toma isn’t exactly your prototypical first-off-the-bus guy. And his stats this year are relatively modest: 24 catches for 252 yards — career highs, but not eye-popping. His one touchdown came on a running play.

Four years ago some people told him he wasn’t good enough for Division I.

Wednesday he was the face of Fighting Irish football six days before it plays for the national championship.

The title of frontman returns to his best friend, Manti Te’o, today. But the job was all Toma’s for one afternoon.

Toma, a senior from Laie and Punahou, was picked as the only Notre Dame player to be interviewed by media when the team landed in South Florida to begin final preparations for the BCS national championship game Monday against Alabama.

“I was kind of shocked I was chosen to speak to the media,” he said. “I’m honored to represent our team right when we get off the plane.”

Despite a late switch in arrival time, around 100 reporters and camera operators greeted the Notre Dame team jet that flew in from South Bend, Ind. So did a squad of orange-suited bowl committee members and a traditional water gun salute. Fighting Irish fans showed up, too, but to their dismay were not allowed near the team.

“There was a lot of pushing and shoving. (Toma) got the Manti treatment. He was surrounded,” said Eric Hansen of the South Bend Tribune. “The only thing that helped was that some people didn’t know who he was. He said he was nervous, but you couldn’t tell.”

Bowl game arrival interviews are in one sense very routine but in another chaotic. The same old questions are asked, but the environment isn’t as controlled as most media availability situations. A tone can be set, good or bad, for the rest of the week and even the game itself.

You want your guys to express confidence, but not cockiness. You want them to provide insight without inciting the opponent. You want them to be entertaining, but not to go all Jordan Lynch and dig holes with their mouths.

Toma was up to it. He hit all the right notes as he was peppered with rapid-fire questions. Mostly softballs, but even those can be tricky for a guy who isn’t used to the spotlight. Toma sounded like he was prepared. Maybe he got some pointers from Te’o.

“We’re definitely confident,” Toma said, when asked about going up against the favored Crimson Tide. “We don’t get too high, we don’t get too low. It showed during the season. We compete for four quarters and that’s all you can ask.

“All season the coaches have done a good job of keeping us grounded. Not letting our heads get too big. Every week is a big game. This is the biggest game and we’re ready for it.”

Matter of fact. Balanced. Maybe too bland?

Nah, there was some color. The quote of the day: “A couple of us were joking the other day it’s Rudy vs. Forrest Gump.”

Toma was quick to follow up with an explanation that both schools have so many championships and so much tradition in their pasts that movies were made about them.

Toma wasn’t a walk-on like Rudy, and he’s a regular contributor, a starter. Indeed, he will play in the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic later this month. But he’s also an underdog who refused to believe those who told him he couldn’t achieve his goals. That makes him a perfect spokesman for this team that still has its doubters despite a 12-0 record.

Toma’s heard it ever since high school.

“People told him to go to Division II because he’d play more,” said his mother, Tammy. “He said, ‘No, I want to play against the best.’ He was always that way. He always wanted to be in the deep end of the pool.”

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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.