South Bend Gameday: No Hurt Locker?

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend during this pivotal season in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches from South Bend.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame is not going to be lucky two consecutive seasons. U-Dub QB Jake Locker is no hurt Locker today as he was last year. The Irish easily won 33-7 with Locker in absentia last October in Seattle. That victory pushed the Irish record to 5-2 and was the last true feel-good moment the team experienced in the continental U.S. of A.

The Irish were 3-1 in September with a trio of heads-or-tails outcomes. The way this season's schedule works out, Notre Dame plays four games in each month. And so my question to you, Irish fans, is this: If you could be assured today that the Irish would go 3-1 each month of this season, for a 9-3 record overall, would you take it?

Follow after the jump for John Walters' gameday liveblogWould you go all Charlie Weis and say, "Sign me up"?

Reason I ask is that Saturday's game is no gimme. And USC visits next. Oh, and by the way, I don't know if you watched but Pitt went on the road last night to Louisville and played 52 Pick-up with the Cards, 35-10. And Stanford looks quite solid.

Which reminds me, hear me now and listen to me later, girliemen, but I'm saying here and now that Michael Floyd will be back for the Stanford game. I have no inside info, but it's a 6-to-8-week injury, and the visit to Palo Alto will be 10 weeks out from the day that Floyd broke the clavicle. And the fact is that the Irish will really, really need him that day. And the redshirt point is moot.

Saturday, and I imagine Bob Hammond and Pat Haden will note it at the outset, the Huskies brought the weather with them. It is damp and cold, and right smack in the middle of what is usually the most glorious fortnight of weather in the Midwest (or Northeast, for that matter) all year long. Put it this way: On a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 representing Indigenous Peoples Summer weather and 0 representing the weather they get on Deadliest Catch, I'd put today at a 2. At best a 3.

Fantastic half-page ad in Friday's edition of The Observer (the Notre Dame student daily). It reads simply, in large letters, "Dear Golden Tate, We'll be sure to catch you anytime you score a touchdown! Love, The Band of the Fighting Irish."

Locally here in the Michiana area, as it is known, the biggest gridiron story of the weekend already occurred. On Friday night Mishawaka High School defeated Penn High School (alma mater of Irish backup center Braxston Cave, by the way) , their "rival" in name only, 26-10.

Why so huge? Penn, besides being the top-ranked school in the state of Indiana, had beaten Mishawaka 35 straight times dating all the way back to 1980. The Kingsmen (Penn) also had a 153-game win streak in conference dating all the way back to 1985. The game was televised locally and I have to give Irish alum Chuck Freeby some dap here, because he called the game and did an excellent job. Much less chortling in the booth in the game's waning moments than in the ESPN booth on Thursday night for the Colorado-West Virginia game (and, yes, that's a shot, but that trio gets a little too frat-boyish when the leash is loosened).

The Cavemen -- second-best nickname locally, after the Jimtown High School Jimmies -- were led by 5'9", 165-pound blur Cortez Lee at quarterback. Lee rushed for 230 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries. I was sorta hoping the South Bend Tribune would run with the headline "Cortez The Killer," but maybe there aren't all that many Neil Young fans out there.

Think about it, though, from a Penn or Mishawaka player's perspective. You're 16, 17 years old and playing in a rivalry game that has had the same outcome for more than twice the length of your lifetime. You can imagine how much drama that added to the game, not to mention the 8,000 fans who were there on a cold and rainy evening.

The Irish, by the way, may hope that outcome was not an omen. U-Dub is 0-7 all-time against Notre Dame.

Worth noting that the four "experts" on the sports staff of The Observer who pick the games every week have chosen the closest outcomes yet for today's game in their final scores. I'm reasonably certain that through four games each of the four have always picked the Irish to win. Usually, though, at least one picks them to win by a touchdown or two. However, the events of the past three Saturdays have sobered them up.

For today's game managing editor Bill Brink has it 31-24, Irish, adding, "I'm terrified of Jake Locker. I'm terrified of Steve Sarkisian." Associate sports editor Michael Bryan sees it 31-28, Irish. Sports editor Matt Gamber has it Irish, 31-27. And associate sports editor Sam Werner, who appears to be going for the Paul Duncan look, has it 28-27, Notre Dame.

Walk on campus during game day at Notre Dame this season and you're likely to run across a few men and women clad in green blazers, none of whom (I'm fairly certain) have ever won the Masters. They are hospitality ushers, Notre Dame's answer to the Wal-Mart greeter.

Besides being hospitable and able to direct any visitor to the Grotto in seven seconds or fewer, they also will remind you, if you're an alum, of your former R.A. I spotted a middle-aged couple attempting to enter the South Quad around noon, each of them carrying a beer in a plastic cup. The hospitality usher kindly but firmly told them that they could not walk on campus with the brewskis. Try doing that in Baton Rouge.

Raise the Woof!

A rundown of Huskies besides quarterback Jake Locker (a future No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, according to Todd McShay on this morning's "College Gameday") worth knowing:

3 -- James Johnson, WR: True frosh leads the team in catches and is the youngest of 13 siblings. Like Notre Dame's Michael Floyd, Johnson's first catch on the collegiate level went for a touchdown.

7 -- Cody Bruns, WR: Sophomore wideout holds the Washington state prep records for receptions (310), touchdowns (72) and receiving yards (5,178).

79 -- Ben Ossai, LT: Big Ben stands a Sasquatchian 6-6, 335 pounds, but he is not quite as large as...

70 -- Morgan Rosborough, RG: Somehow this senior stands 6-6, 379 pounds but is listed second on the depth chart.

66 -- Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, DE: This day, at least, he should be the best Hawaiian-bred defensive player named Te'o on the field. This will be the senior's 42nd consecutive start.

74 -- Alameda Ta'amu, DT: Sophomore goes 6-3, 348 pounds and is the reason that Irish center Eric Olsen joked that he wanted teammate Chris Stewart to be moved to scout team nose tackle this week (Stewart is Notre Dame's largest player).

9 -- Donald Butler, ILB: Huskies' leading tackler.

57 -- Trenton Tuiasosopo, ILB: You cannot have a true U-Dub squad without at least one Tuiasosopo. The senior was shelved for his true freshman season in '05 following a bicycle accident.

22 -- E.J.Savannah, OLB: Interesting story. Savannah was the Huskies' leading tackler in 2007, and then academic issues and the dreaded "off-field issues" (which usually involve either the police or a dame or both) caused him to leave the program last season. Savannah was not suspended, he just left. New coach Steve Sarkisian came in and adopted a "clean slate" policy and now Savannah is back and the team's 2nd-leading tackler.

5 -- Matt Houston, OLB: Worth mentioning because after U-Dub beat USC, writer Jeff MacGregor cracked that "Jake Locker sounds like a Seventies detective show". Guess what, Jeff? "Matt Houston" was an early '80s detective show.

35 -- Tripper Johnson, S: Played eight seasons of minor-league baseball, where he hit .265 and didn't show the type of power to earn the nickname "Round". This is his first season playing, and while his age is not given, he must be at least 25 or 26.

6 -- Desmond Trufant, CB: Younger bro of Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl CB Marcus Trufant.

17 -- Erik Folk, PK: Folk hero, after kicking game-winner versus 'SC.Younger bro of Dallas Cowboys kicker Nick Folk.

49 -- Danny Morovick, LS: Father, Dan, played on USC's 1978 national championship team.