Notre Dame, Ind (UHND.com) – The season opener at Nebraska is not only a golden opportunity for the a Notre Dame football team whose players have National Championship aspirations, but it is a golden opportunity for Bob Davie to finally take the last step in becoming a proven head coach.  

Throughout his tenure at Notre Dame Davie has shown flashes of being a top notch coach.  After a 7-6 season in 1997, Davie regrouped his team and knocked off defending national champion Michigan in the first game of the season.  He followed that up with a complete breakdown the following week in East Lansing at the hands of Michigan State, a team he has yet to beat.  However, Davie got his team to 9-1 that season before Jarious Jackson went down with an injury taking a safety in the LSU game.  Notre Dame went on to lose the next two games including the Gator Bowl and then went on to go 5-7 the following season.

After the disastrous 1999 season when Notre Dame went 5-7, Davie got his team back to a major bowl game for the first time since 1995 only to lose 41-9 at the hands of Oregon State.  Davie did not have his team prepared and it cost him big time as a national, prime time TV audience watched Oregon State disgrace Notre Dame.

This brings us to the opener of the 2001 season, a trip to Lincoln, Nebraska to play a National Championship contender, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  Last season Notre Dame took #1 Nebraska into overtime but lost when Eric Crouch scrambled in for the winning touchdown after Nick Setta gave Notre Dame a three point lead with a field goal. 

Davie is running out of opportunities to show that he is a top notch coach.  Knocking off Nebraska in Lincoln however might just take Davie over the hump and put him into a whole different class of coaches.  A loss however could lead to Davie losing all the ground that he has gained in trying to prove he is worthy of the head coaching job at Notre Dame.

If Davie wins, Notre Dame is pushed into the top 10 most likely and then make a trip to West Lafayette, Indiana to face Purdue, a team who lost All World quarterback Drew Brees.  Brandon Hance definitely has a lot of talent, but the only defense he will see before Notre Dame is that of Cincinnati.  Notre Dame will then also be both Texas A&M's and Michigan State's first real tests of the season.  Bottom line here is, a win over Nebraska could give Notre Dame a huge shot of momentum heading into the hardest part of their season.

A loss however could have a potentially disastrous affect on the Irish.  All the confidence that they gained back after the humbling Fiesta Bowl might be lost and the previously mentioned teams could feast on a disappointed Irish squad.

Whether or not Davie is ready to take this step remains to be seen, but all the signs indicate that he is.  So far this preseason there have been no excuses from Davie about the schedule, lack of speed, or lack of experience.  In fact all Davie has done is say that there are no excuses for this team not to succeed because of its talent, speed, and maturity.  He has also stated that the offense will be more open this season although we have heard that one before.  There is just something different about Bob Davie this pre season though.  He seems extremely confident, something he never has been before since he took over for Holtz.

There are a lot of people out there who would love to see Bob Davie falter this season, but there is a whole world of Notre Dame fans who would want nothing more than for Davie to lead the Irish to a national championship.  While many Irish fans swear they want Davie out, I don't think you will find a Notre Dame fame out there who would not love to see Bob Davie become of the better coaches in the country.

Everything is set in place for Bob to take his place as a great coach for Notre Dame, the rest is up to him.