Although head coach Dabo Swinney arrived at his normal time for his weekly press conference on Tuesday, this is no normal week for Clemson. The ninth-ranked Tigers take on Louisville on Thursday night, and it happens to be one of the quickest turnarounds the coaching staff and players have seen.

Swinney and defensive coordinator Brent Venables discussed the lengths they have to go to in preparation for Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff in Louisville.

Here is what we heard in Tuesday’s press conferences:

“I haven’t gotten much sleep. We literally started Saturday after the game, and we did a lot of work in the preseason. This particular week, we went right to work on Louisville,” Swinney said. “Yesterday’s touchdowns don’t win today’s games.”

Swinney mentioned not a soul on the coaching staff is taking this 0-2 Louisville team lightly because it will be a huge challenge for the Tigers.

“These guys will challenge us by far more than anyone we’ve seen,” Swinney said. “(Louisville) is a good football team that I have no doubt will be in a bowl at the end of the year.”

Swinney said part of what makes Louisville hard to prepare for is its talent in the secondary and its defensive scheme overall. Swinney was especially complimentary of safety Josh Harvey-Clemons, who transferred from Georgia.

“I think they’re really good in the secondary. They’ve got size and length,” he said. “Defensively, their scheme is challenging. You better be dialed in.”

On the injury front, Swinney also had some unfortunate news to tell. Center Ryan Norton has had nagging knee injuries, but he ended up spraining the MCL in his (right) knee in practice. Swinney said that he will sit out the Louisville game, but that they do not believe the injury is serious enough for surgery. Jay Guillermo will take over the starting role on Thursday, and Justin Falcinelli will back him up.

“You’ve got to have the right snap to execute. Its not the big things, its the little things,” Swinney said. “We’re trying to be great. Its the little things that lead to the big things.”

At the quarterback position, Swinney mentioned Kelly Bryant is closing the gap between him and Nick Schuessler as the backup, but Schuessler is still the go-to backup to Deshaun Watson.

“Mentally he (Schuessler) is right there where he needs to be. He is not Deshaun Watson but we can win with him,” Swinney said.

However, Swinney has been impressed with Bryant and even said he has as much potential as Watson, but that he still has a lot to learn.

Another player Swinney was proud of was ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Week Shaq Lawson. Swinney said that he is proud of the vocal leader Lawson has become on the team and that people listen to him because he puts in the work necessary to succeed.

“He’s doing well. He’s a disruptive player,” Swinney said.

Venables agreed that Lawson has stepped up, and he also believes that he is a more confident player this year.

“He’s just consistently doing a lot of little things the right way,” Venables said.

Venables hopes his defense plays to the level they are capable of when the Tigers enter a hostile Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium

“It’s a scheme and it is putting your players in a position to be successful,” Venables said. “I’m there to service them and to help them, but on game days you have to go do your thing.”