When Brian Kelly was hired to coach at Notre Dame, one of the biggest and most legitimate questions Irish supporters had was his ability to recruit on a national level. If Brian Kelly and his staff showed nothing else on National Signing Day, they responded to fans’ worries with an emphatic “yes,” and did their best to put those questions to rest…for now.

On Tuesday, …

National Signing Day has come and gone and Notre Dame football fans around the country continue to recover from the hangover of the one last hurrah before the inevitable off-season lull. Broken only briefly by a short-lived Spring “dog and pony show” in which only die-hard fans trek to Notre Dame Stadium to brave the unpredictable northern Indiana weather and catch a glimpse of what …

The wise Rocky Balboa said, “It ain’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” After Notre Dame’s stunning loss to Tulsa, it would have been easy for the Irish, who stood at a record of four wins and five losses heading into their bye week, to throw in the towel on the season.

The …

Win six games and become bowl eligible—this was now the goal for the Fighting Irish football team. In what has become a somewhat underwhelming inaugural campaign for head coach Brian Kelly, his team adopted a desperate undertaking: making the postseason. Long gone are the days of yesteryear when Notre Dame was at the forefront of college football’s greatest powers. Will Brian Kelly make that happen …

“Three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad.” –Darrell Royal, University of Texas

Following Notre Dame’s clash with the Pittsburgh Panthers, head coach Brian Kelly’s squad faced a very probable scenario of gaining some momentum with, what most people tabbed as, three “soft” opponents. The rhythm on offense, that was somewhat inconsistent through the first  six games of …

Each year, prior to the start of the season, every Notre Dame football fan, whether they admit or not, goes through the schedule to evaluate what kind of final record we can expect for the year. We do it by ourselves, we talk about it with our friends, on message boards, and participate in polls. Even here at Clashmore Mike, we did it.

“Purdue? Win. …

In a theatrical setting, the acts of a play signify two very different halves of the production. The first act introduces the characters, the protagonist and antagonist are established, and a problem or conflict comes to fruition. It’s not until the second act that the plot thickens, reaching the climax of the production, and the problem is resolved in some manner. My high school literature …

Prior to Notre Dame’s matchup against the Boston College Eagles, opinions about Brian Kelly, and the direction of the football program, ranged from cautious optimism to utter dismay. And while some of the most extremely pessimistic views of Kelly’s ability to coach at a “high profile” school still haven’t been stifled by Notre Dame’s 31-13 win over the struggling Eagles, for most fans, the win …

Following the loss to Michigan two weekends ago, Brian Kelly made it clear that the moral victories that come from heartbreaking losses are nothing to hold onto anymore. And while I agree with him, that the Irish should be playing with energy and enthusiasm on every down, following Saturday’s loss to Stanford, it seems that moral victories are the only thing keeping the team and …

As I slowly recovered from the initial shock of the final play of Notre Dame’s game against Michigan State, something felt eerily familiar—almost like déjà vu. And as I continued to reflect, I realized that I had experienced it before. Notre Dame’s recent loss seems like a link in a chain of disappointments that have had Irish fans reeling since 1988, the last time the …