Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/102697
the fifth quarter lou somogyi after he and McCarron had made up. "We had a snap count difference — and I was right." Even then, the competitiveness remained with Jones. He and his teammates abhor the mere thought of losing more than savoring the joy that comes from winning. Notre Dame developed such a mentality in 2012 while reaching the summit, but now there is more to do. Most of all it is not to revel too much about what occurred in 2012. "If you appreciate something and you understand what it took, I think that you may be more committed to what you need to do in the future to continue to be successful," summarized Nick Saban, who doesn't even allow himself to wear the national title jewelry regularly so as not to be enamored with the past. "To be a champion, you've got to live a champion lifestyle," Notre Dame Freshman All-American cornerback KeiVarae Russell noted. "You have to want to be the best in everything you do — whether it's eating, classroom, anything. … That's where it starts." Make no mistake about it, in Notre Dame's 125 years of football, 2012 ranks as one of the three most amazing renaissance seasons, joining the symmetrical 24-year cycle of the 1988 national champs (after a 43‑36‑1 record the previous seven years and no top‑15 finishes) and 1964 team (34‑45 the previous eight years, including 2‑7 the prior season) that was 9‑0 and No. 1 before losing the national title in the last 1:34 of its final game. There was a longtime Notre Dame spirit imbued this year about how what does not seem possible again can indeed be achieved — provided that complacency doesn't infiltrate within. How many could have envisioned that after a fifth straight season in 2011 with at least five defeats the Irish would by playing for No. 1 just 12 months later and finish No. 4 in the Associated Press poll, its highest placement since 1993? "Are we there yet?" has been a popular inquiry amongst Notre Dame faithful over the last 15 years, with numerous false alarms, ranging from BCS berths in 2000, 2005 and 2006, or even the 8-0 start in 2002. Will the 2012 season be remembered as such down the road? Or will it be recognized in lore as one where the rebirth became tangible with all its intangibles? Notre Dame has an opportunity to be a top-10 and even top-five program for many years to come with what has been happening, but …. "We can never be sure of total victory, nor even of eternal salvation, until we've won it," former Notre Dame president Father Theodore Hesburgh (1952-87) wrote to the Notre Dame student body shortly after the 1964 season ended. "And win it we must, day by day, even minute by minute. Don't ever stop wanting to be No. 1, but especially don't ever stop trying." A spirit reborn still must keep its fire. ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com