College Career
At the University of Notre Dame, Cooper played in 45 games with 25 starts and totaled 203 tackles, six interceptions, four fumble recoveries, seven forced fumbles and five passes defensed, returning one fumble for a touchdown.
Cooper is perhaps best remembered for a touchdown-saving tackle late in the fourth quarter of a 31-26 win over Boston College in 1998. On fourth-and-goal from inside the one-yard line, Cooper burst through the line unblocked to stop Eagles' running back Mike Cloud. The play was referred to as the "$11 million-dollar tackle" as it kept Notre Dame's hopes for a berth in a Bowl Championship Series bowl alive. However, those hopes were dashed with a 10-0 loss to USC in the regular season finale.
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