When Jen Talich woke up Wednesday morning in her hotel just a block off Bourbon Street in New Orleans, she had a text from a friend in Cody asking her if she was OK. 

Jen, her husband Jim and their children had gone to bed long before a man rammed his vehicle into a crowd of early morning New Year’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Street, killing at least 14 and injuring at least 30, according to news reports. 

The Talich family had been in town since Monday to see son Luke Talich play with Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia. The game was pushed from Wednesday night to Thursday afternoon due to the tragedy.

“It seems like the city’s on edge,” Jim said Wednesday, adding, “There’s a lot of police activity.”

The family had visited the Notre Dame team’s hotel on New Year’s Eve night as part of the Fighting Irish’s tradition of having family members gather with their sons on the night before game day. The family traveled down Bourbon Street en route to the hotel.

They had gone down the famous street New Year’s Eve day, but found a different route back to their hotel that evening, hours ahead of the attack. 

The family didn’t have food at their hotel so they went back into town on Wednesday for lunch, where the couple noticed a big change in the atmosphere.

“There were, at one point, like eight cops flying by the outside of the hotel, their lights on and everything,” Jen said. “Everyone’s kind of on edge. Where we ate lunch, there were people that were from here saying, ‘It is giving us the most eerie feeling, how quiet the streets are and how, like, there’s just nothing going on.’”

A number of restaurants and stores were closed.

“It does feel eerily kind of quiet,” she said.

The Fighting Irish were locked down in their hotel since attending evening Mass on Tuesday, but the Taliches were able to visit Luke again on Wednesday evening ahead of the Sugar Bowl.

While it’s their first time in New Orleans, the Talich family has been busy this year traveling to Luke’s games. The former Cody High School star has gone from a walk-on at Notre Dame to a scholarship athlete who’s made an impact for one of the best teams in college football this year; that included a 79-yard pick six against Florida State in November.

The Fighting Irish have long been Luke’s favorite team, his mother said, adding that a lot of it stems from the similar colors to Cody, and those classic gold Notre Dame helmets.

“He always loved Notre Dame,” Jen said. “And so when he had the opportunity, you know, he wanted it.”

Jim said Notre Dame wouldn’t find an athlete out in Wyoming, so they traveled to a Notre Dame camp the summer before his senior year; Luke was a hit, and got the chance to walk on.

“He knew that he couldn’t stay there if he didn’t go on scholarship,” Jen said, noting how expensive the private college is.

Luke earned a scholarship and “it’s been an awesome experience so far,” she said.

At every game, Luke has had family or friends from Cody there to see him. Jen has been to a number, including four games in South Bend, Indiana. Jim was able to make a couple working around his duties as an assistant coach for the Cody Broncs — the team Luke (and for one title, his older brother Nic, now a linebacker at the University of Wyoming) led to two state titles.

That community support the Taliches have experienced both at home and at Luke’s games was on full display again Wednesday morning: Jim said people he hadn’t talked to in years were reaching out to make sure the family was alright.

“Lots of people have checked in from Cody, it’s really sweet,” Jen said. “We feel blessed to be from such a great community.”