The dome on Notre Dame's administration building is still plated with 23.9-karat gold.
NBC still has an exclusive contract to broadcast Notre Dame home games on national network television.
But the storied program that will visit No.22-ranked North Carolina on Saturday has fallen on difficult times since the mid-1990s. The Irish claim 11 consensus national titles, but celebrated the 20th anniversary of their last championship team last month.
Tim Brown, the most recent of Notre Dame's seven Heisman Trophy winners, in 1987, had a long, productive NFL career but has been retired from football for three years.
And Notre Dame has lost nine consecutive bowl games, dating to January of 1995.
“Seeing what's happened over the last 15 years, this is not a team that's going to walk on the field and win football games just because they're wearing the gold helmets,” said Peter Tulchinsky, a Notre Dame alumnus and lifelong fan who grew up near campus in South Bend, Ind. He plans to attend Saturday's game.
There might be a dozen reasons why Notre Dame fell into mediocrity after coach Lou Holtz resigned in 1996. The national TV contract isn't much of a recruiting advantage anymore because the ascent of ESPN and other all-sports networks means other teams are on TV almost every week.
Notre Dame's high academic standards decrease the pool of players the school is able to recruit. And by now, Notre Dame has been absent from the college football elite for so long that its tradition isn't as big a draw for recruits.
Despite those factors, Holtz said in an interview that a Notre Dame resurgence is inevitable. The school unveiled a statue of Holtz at the reunion of the 1988 team, and he sounds like a politician stumping with his platform points as he lists Notre Dame's advantages.
He said Notre Dame has passionate alumni and fans, excellent facilities, plenty of TV exposure and a beautiful campus.
“There's no doubt they'll turn that thing around,” said Holtz, now an ESPN analyst.
If he is right, fans might look at the current team as the foundation of the turnaround. Notre Dame set a school record for losses in 2007 at 3-9.
“Definitely, last year was rough for us,” said Notre Dame cornerback Raeshon McNeil, an alumnus of Davie County High in Mocksville.
“This year is a bounce-back year. … Last year we had a lot of guys playing significant roles who hadn't played or had relatively low experience.”
Under fourth-year coach Charlie Weis, Notre Dame is 4-1, just like North Carolina. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who struggled last season as a freshman, is demonstrating why he was one of the most highly sought recruits in the nation in 2007.
Holtz said this is a good team, not a great one, because many key players are underclassmen. Notre Dame starts three sophomores and a freshman on offense and three sophomores on defense.
“They're a good team,” he said, “but they're going to be very, very good next year.”
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