Come Saturday, it might come as a shock to some to see Notre Dame – those of the gold helmets, Touchdown Jesus, Rudy and a network television contract – in the Carrier Dome. For many Syracuse football players and fans, it may seem odd to see the Fighting Irish in person.

After all, if you’ve watched NBC on any fall Saturday in your lifetime, you might start to think that Notre Dame football is played inside television screens. Those solid green jerseys they broke out last year? Just someone playing with the contrast button on the remote.

But this week, Syracuse will find out that the Fighting Irish are for real. The two 5-6 teams will face off at 1 p.m. in the Carrier Dome on ABC. For some, it will be a surreal experience. For others? Simply business as usual.

‘It will probably be a little weird at first to get used to seeing them,’ SU punter Brendan Carney said. ‘You feel like they’re always on TV, and they’re not real life. But once you get out there, once that game kicks off, your focus is strictly on what you have to do and everything else just disappears.’

The Carney family is Irish. But don’t get that confused with Fighting Irish. No, back in middle school, Carney and his family were die-hard Penn State fans. The only anomaly was his sister, Caitlin, who adored Notre Dame football.

‘She was a fan since she could talk,’ Carney said. ‘She liked the little leprechaun. I guess that’s what sparked it.’

That and her Irish roots. Whatever it was, though, she wasn’t allowed in the room when Carney and his other sister, Kelly, were watching Penn State – she’d bring the Nittany Lions bad luck. Now, Carney says, she’ll put her ND allegiances aside to support her brother.

The Fighting Irish are America’s team. They attract football die-hards and casual fans alike with their deep-rooted traditions and their national television appearances. That’s what drew Syracuse free safety Anthony Smith to Notre Dame for a recruiting visit. Though he ultimately chose Syracuse, Smith was wowed by the atmosphere.

On his recruiting visit to South Bend, Ind., Smith took part in such traditions as walking from the chapel to Notre Dame Stadium with the players and smacking the ‘PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY’ sign outside of the Notre Dame locker room.

Notre Dame also boasts one of sports’ greatest feel-good stories in history in Rudy Ruettiger, who played for the Fighting Irish in the mid-1970s. Many of the Orangemen have seen the movie he inspired. But Carney believes he has a Rudy Ruettiger playing alongside him.

‘We have a Rudy ourselves in (long snapper) Dave DeAmato,’ Carney said.

But that’s something that DeAmato – who like Ruettiger worked himself up to the varsity team as a walk-on – dismisses. He gets it a lot. He’s tired of hearing the comparison.

‘Their stories are kind of similar,’ Carney said. ‘The only thing is Dave plays a lot more than Rudy played. He’s played 200 plays and Rudy only played once. Just the way it happened is kind of similar to the whole Rudy story.’

Put aside the tradition, the pageantry and the television cameras and there will be a football game between two 5-6 teams. Both are focusing on finishing the season with a non-losing record. But there’s reason to get excited. It’s not like Notre Dame comes to the Dome every year.

‘I think the whole city is looking forward to that,’ sophomore tight end Joe Kowalewski said. ‘Who doesn’t dream about playing Notre Dame in college? It’s like playing the Yankees in baseball. You dream about this. Notre Dame is coming to town. It doesn’t matter what their record is. It’s Notre Dame.’

Saturday they’ll be in Syracuse. Live and in color.

‘We definitely know that they’re real and that we’re in for a hard-fought game,’ guard Matt Tarullo said. ‘When they get here, hopefully they’ll understand that we’re real and that we’re going to play them all the way to the bone.’

Published on December 2, 2003 at 12:00 pm