Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football

Guide Note:

The University of Notre Dame football program was one of the most historic athletic programs in all of collegiate sports. The school competes as a member of the Big East Conference in every single sport except for college football, where it competes as an independent. The Fighting Irish have won more national championships than any other college football program, and are currently tied with USC and Ohio State for the most Heisman Trophy winners from one school. They play home games at Notre Dame Stadium, which is often referred to as "The House that Rockne built", and features a large mural of a resurrected Jesus located on a nearby library that fans refer to as Touchdown Jesus because his arms are extended as if signaling a touchdown. One major reason why the team doesn't need to belong to a league is because they have their own television deal with NBC Sports to televise all of their home games.

Fast Facts:

1. Head coach: Charlie Weis
2. Inaugural season: 1887
3. National Titles: 11 (last in 1988)
4. Home: Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, IN
5. Capacity: 80,795
6. All-time: 821-269-42
7. Colors: Gold with Blue or Green
8. Fight Song: Notre Dame Victory March
9. Bitter rivals: Michigan and USC

The Four Horsemen & The Gipper

Perhaps the most famous team in the fabled lore of the program is the 1924 national championship team coached by Knute Rockne. It featured a backfield of Harry Stuhldreher at quarterback, Jim Crowley and Don Miller as halfbacks, and Elmer Layden at fullback. Legendary New York sportswriter Grantland Rice nicknamed the Four Horsemen. Also during the Rockne era came the famous "Win One for the Gipper" pre-game speech following the death of former All-American George Gipp.

Frank, Ara, Dan, and Lou

Ordinarily, the shadow cast by Rockne following his death in 1930 would signal a period of mediocrity for a program. For Notre Dame, it lasted 9 years intul the hiring of Frank Leahy in 1941. Leahy would revive the storied tradition of winning football at Notre Dame. He would be followed in this success by Ara Parseghian. Dan Devine, and Lou Holtz, all of whom would coach the Irish to national championships during their tenures as coach. Today, head coach Charlie Weis is trying to end a 20-year drought since the school's last national championship, the longest in school history.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy

Many famous and infamous moments have occurred with the Irish on the field. There's the famous Chicken Soup Game in 1979 when Joe Montana battled the flu and rallied the Irish to a come-from-behind win over Houston in the Cotton Bowl; there's the win over Oklahoma in 1957 that ended the Sooners record-setting 47-game winning streak; there's the 1966 'Game of the Century' when they tied Michigan State 10-10; and the Catholics vs. Convicts battle in 1988 when they edged the #1 ranked Miami Hurricanes. But the last time any player was carried off the field by the Irish for his heroics was walk-on Daniel Rudy Ruettiger, who recorded a sack on the final play of a 1975 regular season game against Georgia Tech. The moment became the inspiration behind the movie Rudy.