It’s more than two hours before Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s football team plays in a Southern Section playoff game, and there’s one big teenager lying on his back at the 50-yard line with headphones on. Samson Fatu, 6 feet 5 and 305 pounds, is using the all-weather turf as his “Sleep Number bed.”

“Here I Am,” a song by J Boog, playing on his headphones. This is the way Fatu focuses before a game.

He’s a starting offensive tackle for Notre Dame, which hosts Chino Hills in a Division 3 playoff game on Friday. His father, Rikishi, is in the WWE Hall of Fame. Three brothers are pro wrestlers and don’t be surprised if Samson one day becomes the latest Samoan family member to start throwing people down. He’s that big and strong and anyone named Samson has star power.

He’s finally healthy after getting injured last season. Get your photos of the big kid with lots of hair. One day you might be watching him on TV in football or wrestling.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Sometimes, even winning takes a toll.

Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball head coach Pat Kelsey learned the hard way on Tuesday night as he tried to avoid the postgame celebration fracas following their win over the Kentucky Wildcats.

The No. 12 Cardinals defeated the No. 9 Wildcats 96-88 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.

He entered his postgame media availability with his right middle finger in a splint. He said he was trying to avoid his assistant coaches mobbing him after the victory on the other side of the arena.

“Now I’m 50, but I got some wheels,” he said. “There’s a curtain that separates the two halves of the court, and I try to bust through, but my finger gets caught on something.”

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Kelsey said his finger was bent at nearly 90 degrees but was unsure if it was broken. A team physician helped him reset the finger.

“There’s so much adrenaline going on in my body right now, I didn’t feel anything,” he said.

Louisville’s win over Kentucky is one of their biggest in recent years. Kelsey took over the Cardinals as head coach after the team went 8-24 under Kenny Payne during the 2023-24 season.

The Cardinals were 27-8 last year and made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2018-19 season.

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Louisville had lost 14 out of its last 17 against Kentucky before the win on Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jameis Winston entered last Sunday as the New York Giants’ No. 3 quarterback.

This week, he appears to be set to make his first start of the season.

Winston has been moved ahead of fellow veteran quarterback Russell Wilson on the Giants’ depth chart, according to multiple media outlets. The move puts Winston in line for what appears to be a likely start Sunday against the Green Bay Packers as regular starter Jaxson Dart remains in concussion protocol.

It’s the first major decision made by interim coach Mike Kafka since the Giants’ firing of coach Brian Daboll on Monday. New York went 20-40-1 in three-plus seasons under Daboll, including a 2-8 start to this season.

A 10-time Pro Bowl selection and a Super Bowl champion with the Seattle Seahawks, Wilson started 11 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024, his 13th NFL season. He was signed during the offseason by the Giants to be their 2025 starting quarterback.

Winston was signed to be Wilson’s backup. In his previous 10 NFL seasons, Winston had gone 36-51 as the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns, with 154 touchdowns and 111 interceptions.

In April, the Giants traded up nine spots in the draft to select Dart with the No. 25 overall pick. The rookie out of Mississippi ended up earning the No. 2 quarterback spot. But Wilson was largely ineffective during the Giants’ 0-3 start, and Dart was promoted to starting quarterback in Week 4.

Dart helped spark the Giants to wins over the Chargers and the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in two of his first three starts. Overall this season, Dart is 2-7 as a starter, completing 63% of his passes for 1,417 yards passing with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Last week against the Chicago Bears, Dart hit his head on the ground during the third quarter and eventually was checked for a concussion for the fourth time this season. Wilson entered the game mid-drive and led the Giants to an eventual field goal and a 20-10 lead.

Overall, however, Wilson was ineffective again — he completed three of seven passes for 45 yards and was sacked twice — as the Giants collapsed and lost the game 24-20.