Notre Dame, Ind - (UHND.com) The past two seasons Notre Dame has faced national championship caliber teams (Nebraska in 2000 and Tennessee in 1999). Both times I wrote articles titled Mission Impossible because Notre Dame was heavy underdogs in both contests. This season when Notre Dame takes the field against Nebraska things don't seem all too impossible.

Last season no one outside the Notre Dame community gave Notre Dame much of a chance against Nebraska when the Huskers visited South Bend. Things have changed under the dome however and now people are starting to think that the Irish have more than a decent chance against the much higher ranked Cornhuskers.

Lee Corso of ESPN said Notre Dame had no chance in ESPN's preseason special, but has since changed his tune. This is after watching two lackadaisical performances from Nebraska against Troy State and TCU however. Other experts out there are also giving the Irish a chance. Beano Cook has said since the preseason that Notre Dame has a chance. Hmmm, Beano and Corso are both giving the Irish a chance, is that good or bad news??

Anyway, things have changed a lot since last preseason after Notre Dame had come off a miserable 5-7 season. People are optimistic about Notre Dame's chances. More importantly though, the coaches seem to be the most optimistic. Bob Davie is giving himself no room for error by saying statements such as "we should not be the underdog in any game we play this year." A far cry from statements such as "we lack the talent top schools do," "we lack speed," "we play a very hard schedule," and a long list of other excuses we heard from Davie in the past.

Unlike last year, the Irish return a lot of experience and have overall better team speed. The talent level of this team is better than any Notre Dame team since the 1993 team that deserved the national title. The Irish are two and three deep at every position and while there are some positions that may have new starters, most of those new starters all saw playing time last year.

The talent is there for Notre Dame to shock the college football world on Saturday. While most experts like Corso say the Irish have a chance, most really don't think Notre Dame will actually win. There are a lot of people however think the Irish will win and they are much more important than any expert or fan. They are the players and coaches. The last time these players were on the field for a game they were embarrassed in prime time TV in front of a national audience. How better for them to redeem themselves by knocking off a top 5 on the road in front of another prime time national audience?