Irish play by their own rules

Can Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis and QB Jimmy Clausen orchestrate a turnaround in 2008? (File 2007/Darron Cummings/Associated Press)

One team was 3-9 last season. The other was 4-8. One team was 119th (out of 119 teams) in total offense last season. The other opened this season with a 29-27 loss to Football Championship Subdivision Cal Poly.

And yet tomorrow's game between Notre Dame and San Diego State will be on national television. And if you want to make an early projection after watching the first weekend of the season, Notre Dame could very well win 10 games and be in contention for a Bowl Championship Series berth.

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame, the team that has its own television network (NBC) and is judged by a different measuring stick than its other Football Bowl Subdivision brethren.

Is this fair? Does it make sense? Probably not. But in the world of college football, Notre Dame is judged by different standards.

Last year's 3-9 record? Just a better story line for what will happen this year. It almost seems scripted. Irish coach Charlie Weis talked about watching the games last weekend and saw six of the Irish's 2008 opponents on television.

And if you scoff that a Notre Dame team can go from 3-9 to 10-2, look at the schedule. San Diego State, which lost to Cal Poly; Michigan, which lost to Utah at home; Michigan State, which lost to California; Washington, which lost to Oregon; Syracuse, which lost to Northwestern; Pittsburgh, which lost to Bowling Green.

Even some of the teams who won their openers - Navy, North Carolina, Stanford - are not in the Top 25 or regarded as major threats.

Only Southern Cal looks untouchable, and Boston College could be, too. The Eagles, who host the Irish Nov. 8, have developed their own mystique with their dominance over the Irish in recent years - the Eagles have won the last five meetings.

History also suggests the Irish will bounce back. In 119 years of football, Notre Dame has had 101 winning seasons. Last year's record was the worst in school history. But in the three previous seasons the Irish have been that inept, they turned things around: They were 2-8 in 1956, then went 7-3 the following season; they went from 2-8 in 1960 to 5-5 in '61; and they went from 2-7 in 1963 to 9-1 the next season.

Their youth, however, is working against them. Weis has eight freshmen in his two-deep depth chart. Only North Texas (9) and Southern Methodist (13) are younger, and neither is a BCS contender.

Notre Dame does have quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who was seasoned under fire but was still a few wins and touchdown passes away from being on people's Heisman list last season. That's the way it is at Notre Dame.

Weis is seasoned, as well. This is his fourth year at his alma mater and some of the shine is off the mystique, with only a 22-15 record after three seasons, none of which has produced a bowl victory.

Weis is even going to let offensive coordinator Mike Haywood call the plays - or at least that was part of the plan developed to get the Irish back into the national flow. Some people are saying that Weis has mellowed. "He's changed how he's interacted with the team," Irish safety and captain David Bruton told the South Bend Tribune recently. "You're now able to talk to him and joke around and feel comfortable with him."

How it all plays out will be one of the story lines of the 2008 college football season - win or lose.

Globe Top 10
1. Oklahoma
2. Southern Cal
3. Ohio State
4. Florida
5. Georgia
6. Missouri
7. Auburn
8. Louisiana State
9. Texas
10. West Virginia

Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.