Who Says Irish's Schedule Is a Gimme?

It won't happen. They've got too much talent, and chances are, all of those Fighting Irish ghosts through the ages won't allow Notre Dame football to live in purgatory for three consecutive seasons.

That said, Notre Dame really could shake down the thunder above the Golden Dome by the end of the year, but only because of a mediocre record or even (Oh, help us, Mother of Mary) a losing one.

I'm serious.

Contrary to popular belief, Notre Dame's schedule isn't easy, because Notre Dame's football schedule never is easy. All you need to know is that "The Notre Dame Game" is either 1a or 1b as the biggest game on the schedule for every one of the Irish's opponents each season, and this season is no exception. So let's have none of this silliness that the Irish already have eight, nine, 10 victories before they open at home on Saturday with Nevada, which sounds like a pitiful foe but really isn't.

Just take it from Lou Holtz, the Notre Dame coaching icon turned ESPN analyst. He never saw an opponent that he didn't like to anoint as invincible during his 11 seasons with the Irish through 2006.

That's why you know Holtz will give the definitive words on how close Notre Dame is this season to stumbling from week to week.

"Well," said Holtz, before a long pause on his cell phone. "I know people are blasting their schedule. What brings that about is, playing Connecticut, and Connecticut has been I-A for eight years. Playing Nevada, and then saying they are going to be a real test when Nevada was 118th (out of 119 schools) in pass defense last year. I'm a big Notre Dame fan, as you know, and I think they're going to have a great year, but in the preseason rankings, their (strength of schedule) other than Southern Cal is No. 64."

Et tu, Lou?

Added Holtz, "I think that if you look at Penn State 's schedule, it might be even easier than Notre Dame's. They've got Akron ... Coastal Carolina (actually it's Eastern Illinois, but it's the same thing). Still, any time you win 11 or 12 games during a season, regardless of who you play, you should be considered for a national championship, and I think that's true of Notre Dame this year."

I agree, but about Notre Dame's "easy" schedule ...

Next to potential BCS buster Boise State, Nevada is the best team in the Western Athletic Conference. Ever hear of Colin Kaepernick? You will. He is Nevada 's splendid quarterback who was named the WAC's Offensive Player of the Year last season courtesy of his rocket arm and swift feet. He also is a third of the reason why Nevada will start the season with an NCAA-unprecedented three 1,000-yard rushers. Oh, and Nevada head coach Chris Ault already is in the College Football Hall of Fame

"This is the 103rd year of Nevada football, and it is fair to say that this is their biggest stage ever against Notre Dame," said Chad Hartley, who should know. He has been an official in the Nevada athletics department for four years. Before that, he covered the Wolf Pack for six years for the Reno Gazette Journal, and he is a Nevada alumnus.

Added Hartley, reflecting on the nearly 3,500 Nevada fans slated to make the trip to South Bend, Ind., "Going to Notre Dame, which is the mecca of college football, they see this as a once-in-a-lifetime thing. So it's fair to say that, if Nevada beats Notre Dame, it would be the biggest victory in the school's history."


Beating Notre Dame ranks as larger than life for every school. Which brings us to this: After Nevada, the Irish play at Michigan against a program that suddenly is a mess on and off the field with the various controversies surrounding Rich Rodriguez. But what better way for the Wolverines to quiet the howling around them than to shock their biggest rivals not named Ohio State?

Then there is Michigan State. Not only are the Spartans among the Big Ten elite, but they've won six straight at Notre Dame Stadium.

Then the Irish face a Purdue team picked to finish last in the Big Ten. It's just that the game is in West Lafayette, Ind., and this is an interstate situation, and Notre Dame is Purdue's most hated foe not named Indiana.

Washington? OK, no problem. Then again, Notre Dame choked at home last season to a pathetic Syracuse bunch with a lame-duck coach.

I don't have to tell you about Southern Cal.

Then Notre Dame will spend the next week in South Bend trying to stop its six-game losing streak overall to Boston College.

Washington State is after that (see Washington above). Then Navy comes to Notre Dame, and remember: Navy ran the Irish out of their own stadium two seasons ago during the last time the Midshipmen came to town.

Next, Notre Dame goes to Pittsburgh against a Panthers bunch that only is picked to win the Big East. Then there is a home game against Connecticut (see Washington and Washington State above). Then Notre Dame closes at Stanford, featuring Toby Gerhart, among the nation's top running backs.

Where's the easy schedule? It's so easy that, if you go by the bowl projections of ESPN.com, Notre Dame will face seven potential bowl teams this season -- you know, the same amount as SEC toughies Florida, Ole Miss and LSU.

Still, I understand Holtz's points. When he coached the Irish, they were forced even more so to battle everything I just mentioned about opponents always wanting to knock the halo off Touchdown Jesus. That's because Holtz's Notre Dame teams had what truly was the nation's toughest schedule each season. If there wasn't Miami, there was Ohio State, Texas, Tennessee, among others, and those powerhouses joined the Irish's yearly battles with Michigan and Southern Cal .

"In 1989, we had a better record than Miami (12-1 to 11-1), but they won the national championship, " Holtz said. "We beat seven conference champions that year, and not a thing was said about our schedule. Nothing. We beat Colorado, which won the Big Eight. We beat Virginia, which won the ACC. We beat Michigan, which won the Big Ten. We beat Southern Cal, which won the Pac 10, right on down the line. And nobody said anything about it.

"So I say this: Schedule who you want to, according to the athletics director's wishes, but what I do understand is that, when I left Notre Dame, (former athletics director) Mike Wadsworth asked (Holtz's successor) Bob Davie, 'Give me your wish list.' The first thing that Bob Davie put down on that list was, 'Ease up the schedule,' and so I think that's what they're doing."

Yes, Notre Dame officials are, but "easy" isn't the right word to describe the Irish's football schedule at any time. I'll give you "easier."

Holtz chuckled, saying, "When I was at Notre Dame and Penn State canceled a game to join the Big Ten, Notre Dame scheduled Florida State. But at Notre Dame, that was just a little difference in philosophy compared to now."

Just a little.


Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning," an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta.