Notre Dame Week

Every year the week leading up to the Notre Dame game is nerve racking, invigorating and filled with jawing and trash talk on forums and radio talk shows from coast to coast. For years this rivalry game has had national implications ummm, not this year. The two winning est teams in college football history have become the laughing stock of college football and the butt of jokes and scorn of sports writers and college football fans nationwide. Both (0-2) in embarrassing fashion.

The only reason Notre Dame's laughable start hasn't gotten much media attention is because Michigan has had a hysterically laughable (or sobbing for some) bad start that makes Notre Dame's troubles look almost like heaven in comparison.

The "genius" Weis and his Irish have not scored an offensive TD and have settled on putting the freshman qb Jimmy Clausen in the drivers seat. Lloyd and the neutered Wolverines were forced to put in their freshman qb Ryan Mallett, not because Michigan was so far ahead of Oregon in the 3rd quarter, but because Oregon actually tackles and tackles hard and Chad Henne was on the end of one too many of those.

So here we all are, Notre Dame faithful and the Michigan faithful, and faith seems to be in low reserve. The usually proud and almost arrogant (according to many fans of opposing schools)fans of both programs are now quietly sulking around offices and malls around the nation.

It is hard to even speculate what will happen in this game. These games are always hard to call and usually I would give the nod to Michigan since it is a home game but, Michigan has been run out of their house two weeks in a row.

Now Mike Hart has gone Rasheed Wallace on us, so not only do the fans have their tailgate menu to worry about, now they have to worry if Michigan and Hart in particular, will have to eat a menu of Crow served up by Clausen and Weis.

I have no doubt that Weis is going to use the spread against Michigan. Sure Clausen is not a running qb but, I do believe Weis has many offensive plays hidden away just for these occasions. I do not see him going ultra conservative, because at this point what is there really to lose? Neither team can afford to be 0-3.

Both coaches have a great deal to prove here. They have both taken some really heavy gut punches and which of the two are going come out in this round still swinging? I don't have faith that Lloyd will open up the offense with a freshman qb. What would ever make me think that? Definitely not anything in the past.

I may not be as excited as usual for this match up as in past years, but no matter what, I always want to beat the Irish. And you know every eyeball in the nation will be focused on this game to see who will flop down on the ball last and win this game.