Weis Leads Notre Dame Into New Era

It was a crisp, cool night in South Bend as I watched the final seconds tick off the clock from a field seat at Notre Dame Stadium. The only thing going through my mind was that the Fighting Irish were seconds away from the win that would guarantee them a shot at the national championship.

I couldn't have felt happier, until the win was horrifically wrenched away by a last-second score. The comeback had fallen short, the magic had run out, and I was left standing on the field wondering what could have been. It was the only time I ever cried at a football game.

Flash forward 12 years. I'm watching Brady Quinn march the Fighting Irish down the field to take the lead against the top-ranked Trojans of Southern California. As the seconds ticked off the clock to zero, I went crazy (the official statistics were five people hugged, 39 high fives exchanged, and one voice instantaneously lost). Then it happened — time went back up onto the clock, Matt Leinart snapped the ball, and then was pushed into the end zone by Reggie Bush. Suddenly, I was that 8-year-old boy on the field at Notre Dame Stadium again, left to watch the team he loves lose on a freak series of plays at the end of the game.

It was different this time (for instance, I wasn't on the field consoling the starting backfield after the game, thanks to Notre Dame getting rid of field seats when they renovated the stadium), but the feeling of having your heart shattered like a framed picture of Knute Rockne dropped from the top of the Golden Dome is still the same. Yet, I wouldn't have it any other way.

While analysts were quick to label this game as one of the greatest of all-time, they also said something that just didn't make sense: "I'm glad to be impartial — without a favorite team, I can really enjoy this game." I don't buy into that theory at all. Sure, that loss was the worst I have experienced in the last 12 years as a sports fan, but without those losses, the wins aren't nearly as sweet. It's these types of highs and lows that really make being a sports fan worth it. Would the Red Sox have enjoyed last year's World Series half as much if they hadn't experienced those colossal choke jobs of the past? I simply couldn't imagine following sports without a favorite team, it just wouldn't be the same.

Even after the colossal loss, it's hard to be too down. The manner in which it was lost was terrible. One, the ball should have been spotted back at least to the two-yard-line after the fumble, which would have prompted a kick; two, the timeout called by the USC coaching staff should have resulted in a five-yard-penalty; and three, Reggie Bush's push of Matt Leinart on the final play was completely and 100% illegal. Still, as much as I'd like to blame controversy for the loss, the game was really lost when Leinart made the most perfect throw I've ever seen in football on 4th-and-9 to set the Trojans up inside the red zone. Arguing otherwise would just trivialize a great game.

Naturally, I'm taking my lead from Charlie Weis in all of this. Usually, I would be one of those fans who sits and cries and complains of how we were screwed. I would have been furious that Reggie Bush openly committed a penalty that wasn't called, even though I don't believe the rule is a worth a damn anyway. I still have a problem with the spot of the ball and the timeout, but I know it's not why we lost the game.

I think the reason I can take this loss like a man is because of Weis. In fact, while we are only six games into his regime, I've never felt more confident of a coach than I am about Charlie Weis. The guy has shown he can coach, we've seen that in his time in the NFL and with the work he's done with this team over the summer and fall — that's a given. He's now shown me that he can coach Notre Dame football. He displayed that during his visit with the terminally-ill boy during the week of the Washington game (and by still calling his play), he showed it to me when he stopped in the USC locker room after the game to congratulate their players, and he showed it to me by passing on turning the end of the USC game into a full-blown controversy.

"I would hope that my running back, with the game on the line, would take the same risk," Weis said in his news conference. "What's the worst that can happen? A five-yard penalty and then you kick the field goal. Is it illegal? Yes. But is it a heads-up play? Yes."

Before I get too far, I want to clear up any Tyrone Willingham/Weis talk. I know that Ty won his first eight games in his first season. I also know that his team was completely exposed as a fraud at the end of the season, starting by getting slaughtered by USC. Weis has played a much better USC team, and was a ridiculously lucky fumble away from defeating them. I'm not looking for a moral victory here, I'm just pointing out the obvious — Weis is going to be a far greater coach than Ty Willingham.

The Associated Press Poll now is the only one giving Notre Dame the credit they deserve by keeping them in the top 10. I have no respect whatsoever for the Harris Poll or the Coaches' Poll. How the hell is the solution to the BCS to create another poll that is completely biased? The problem of bias is supposed to be solved by trying to make sure everyone has a little bias? The Harris Poll makes about as much sense as hiring Dave Wannstedt to coach your football team. The fact of the matter is that coaches simply don't have time to watch other teams (more than a few have told me that) and the Harris Poll is simply a complete joke.

Polls won't matter in the end if (when) Notre Dame takes care of business by winning out. More importantly, I'm ready to embrace the new era of Notre Dame football. The championship-less and coaching carousel era is a thing of the past (for the record, the '93 team was better than FSU and should have been national champs), with the two most painful losses I've experienced as a sports fan as bookends. And when that national championship finally comes (it's only a matter of time — maybe a year?), it will be that much sweeter because of losses like this. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Sports Gospel According to Mark is sponsored by BetOnSports.com. BetOnSports.com gives you the greatest sports action to bet on. Wager on football, cricket, boxing, Rugby, horse racing, and more. Mark Chalifoux is also a weekly columnist for SportsFan Magazine. His columns appear every Tuesday on Sports Central. You can e-mail Mark at [email protected].