Notre Dame to play at Reliant?

Officials from Lone Star Sports & Entertainment have held preliminary talks with Notre Dame about bringing a football game to Reliant Stadium.

"It's all very preliminary," said David Brady, director of Lone Star Sports & Entertainment. "We've at least opened the dialogue. We've talked to them about their future schedule and the potential of a game here."

Notre Dame plans to schedule a football game each season at neutral sites starting in 2009.

Notre Dame would be designated the "home" team in any game in Houston. No year has been targeted, but a team "with local appeal" — likely from the Big 12 or Conference USA — could be an opponent, Brady said.

The Irish have not played a game in Houston since beating Rice 28-0 in 1973.

"(Houston) is certainly in the mix," said John Heisler, Notre Dame's associate athletic director. "We've said from day one that Texas and Florida are two states that we're the most interested in."

Notre Dame will play games — against yet-to-be-determined opponents — at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., in 2011 and 2014. The Irish also will play Washington State in San Antonio's Alamodome on Oct. 31, 2009, and are in discussions with Baylor about playing at the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington in 2012.

Along with Houston, other neutral sites that could be considered to host a Notre Dame game are Jacksonville, Fla., and Tampa, Fla. Heisler said the presence of a bowl in a prospective city is a plus. Lone Star Sports & Entertainment also is in charge of the Texas Bowl.

 

My Cougars are looking for a re-match. Some punk QB named Joe Montana costs us a shot at the National Title that year:

1979 Cotton Bowl

In the first quarter, Notre Dame took a scored the first 12 points of the game. The quarter ended with Notre Dame ahead 12-0. In the second quarter, aided by the direction of the wind, Houston responded with 20 consecutive. When the teams returned to the field to start the second half, Joe Montana remained in the locker room.[2]

During the game, Montana's body temperature had dipped to 96 degrees and had to fight off hypothermia. Forced into the locker room, the ND medical staff warmed Montana by feeding him chicken bouillon and by covering him with warm blankets.[1]

By the fourth quarter, Houston had built a 34-12 lead over Notre Dame. Montana returned to the field with 7:37 remaining on the game clock and was cheered actively by the Notre Dame fans.[1] In the last seconds of the game, Notre Dame was behind, but had possession of the ball. With six seconds left, Montana threw the ball out of bounds, which stopped the game clock and just two seconds remained.[1]

With six seconds left, the Irish were down by six points. "I told Joe to run a 91, a quick out," Devine says, "and if it wasn't there, to throw it away. Kris Haines, our wideout, slipped, and Joe threw it away. Now there were two seconds left. I turned my back on the field. That meant Joe could call his own play. He called the 91 again, the noseguard came through, Haines broke to the flag, and with the noseguard staring him in the face Joe threw a perfect pass, low and outside, a bullet -- under all that pressure, with terrible conditions. He was so calm. I swear to God he was no different than he would have been in practice." Final score, 35-34, and six months later Notre Dame was marketing a promotional film called Seven and a Half Minutes to Destiny, "which," Devine says, "was really a Joe Montana film."

ESPN.com named the game the third greatest bowl game of all-time.

 

You're absolutely right...

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