CBS Expert Picks WEEK 13
- Thread starter G_a_r_y
- Start date
You wouldn't be a Notre Dame fan if a post-Thanksgiving trip to the Coliseum to take on USC didn't scare the hell out of you. I still instinctively react to the game as though John McKay is their coach and he will have that team so fired up they can't possibly fail.
What keeps me relatively calm now is my belief that Helton is simply not a good coach and he has allowed his team to spiral out of control for so long that his players simply won't have the mental fortitude needed to play tough for four quarters.
Every week there's been 1 or 2 reporters that always pick against the Irish. I think they've come to the conclusion that the Irish are for real and are extremely consistent. They've seen the light....doesn't surprise me at all.
Why ? Are you a middle ages priest? HocusPocus does'nt win games. The team with the better players and coaches and more to play for usually do. Come out of the darkness and into the light and lose your fear. Irish will dominate!
I don't get all the talk about USC being a harbinger of Death for the Irish when the Irish are good. 1964 and 1970 being about the only times a top Irish team lost to a bad USC team. Recent history has been either the better USC and the better Irish teams winning over the underdog. . USC vs Notre Dame is not really even a rivalry game to most anymore.
It's not that they were always bad teams that upset good ND teams; it's just the way they did it, with '64, '70, and '74 possibly costing us titles, although in '74 we had lost once.
But I think on some level, you are right the rivalry losing its luster. When Holtz teams won year after year and then Carroll teams won year after year, it lost some of its excitement.
Michigan is the game that gets my blood pumping.
