SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- As college football rivalries go,
Michigan-Notre Dame is an odd one.
Imagine Ohio State and Michigan, Notre Dame and USC, or Oklahoma
and Texas playing only every so often.
In four years as a student at Notre Dame, Charlie Weis never saw
the Irish play the Wolverines. Knute Rockne and Ara Parseghian
never went against Michigan. In 27 years as Michigan coach,
Fielding Yost faced the Irish three times. Bo Schembechler coached
against the Irish 10 times in 21 years.
Despite the on-again, off-again relationship, though, there is
no denying Michigan-Notre Dame is a rivalry game.
"It's a rivalry in a lot of different ways besides the obvious
rivalry of distance," Weis said. "I mean, you're recruiting a lot
of the same guys, the same locale of the country. There's a lot of
similarities between the programs."
While the series is intermittent, the feelings between the
schools are not.
"They don't like us and we don't like them," Michigan
offensive tackle Jake Long said this week.
There was so much bad blood between the two schools that they
played each other only twice from 1909 to 1977. Since 1978, though,
they have met in all but six years.
The teams are 1-2 in wins and winning percentage in college
football. For years, Michigan (2-0) had the most wins and Notre
Dame (2-0) had the best winning percentage. The Wolverines -- who
taught Notre Dame students the game back in 1887 -- passed the Irish
in winning percentage two years ago. Now the two programs are
divided by less than a percentage point -- just .0006658 to be
exact.
That means Notre Dame can reclaim the lead with a win Saturday.
But this rivalry is about more than numbers.
The schools battle it out more than just on the football field.
Michigan claims "Hail to the Victors" -- which Weis hates -- is the
most recognizable in college football. Notre Dame claims the most
recognizable song is the "Notre Dame Victory March."
Michigan says it is the most televised college football program
in NCAA history with 358 appearances. Notre Dame says it has
appeared on network television more times than any other school
with 280 airings.
The two schools, about 175 miles apart, can't agree on much of
anything, so it's no surprise they took different approaches to
this week's game. While Notre Dame players were taking the
it's-just-another-game attitude, the Wolverines weren't concerned
about talking about how big the game is Saturday.
"It's a rivalry game so we are naturally going to go out there
and be a little more intense in the weight room and practice
field," Michigan defensive tackle Alan Branch said. "We are going
to be really focused this week and I expect a whole different team
practicing this week."
That is completely the opposite of how Weis wants his team to
approach the game. He wants the Irish to prepare the same way for
Michigan as they do for Army or Stanford.
"I think I have to respect every opponent exactly the same,"
Weis said. "I think I'd be disrespectful to the other people on
our schedule if I treated any one team differently. I treated
Georgia Tech the same way I treated Penn State, which is the same
way I'm treating Michigan, with ultimate respect."
That was the party line for the Irish this week, with player
after player saying they were focusing on each game as an
"entity."
"Every game is as important as the last one. Every game is as
important as a national championship to us," Irish offensive
tackle Ryan Harris said. "We want to win every game and that
starts and ends with each game as its own separate entity."
One of the few Notre Dame players who even hinted that this game
was something different was receiver Jeff Samardzija.
"It speaks for itself, this game," he said. "That's just how
it is. It doesn't matter who's on our team, who's on their team,
it's going to be a big game."
But Samardzija caught himself moments later, saying he believes
in Weis' philosophy.
"I think a big part of that philosophy is that even though on
the outside it may seem that some games are bigger than other ones,
the whole philosophy is based on not approaching it that way," he
said. "It's something that gets instilled in you over the weeks
and over the years."
The No. 11 Wolverines, who have lost three of their last four
games with the Irish, are looking to put last season's
disappointing 7-5 finish behind them and show that they are ready
to contend for a national title. Beating No. 2 Notre Dame would
surely help, and the Wolverines aren't attempting to hide the
game's importance or downplay the rivalry.
"The first time I played, I barely was able to breathe after I
touched the banner," Branch said. "It will probably be the same
this year. It's just an awesome feeling to be a part of something
so thick in tradition."
The one thing both teams agreed on, though, is they expect a
tough, physical game.
"There's going to be some great plays on both sides of the
football, and that's the joy of playing in a game like this against
Notre Dame -- in a tradition that we both have," Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr said. "What else could you want?"