Notre Dame Football -- FUN FACTS FRIDAY

Notre Dame Football's Media Relations team -- released their game notes this week and there a few fun facts to keep in mind as you watch Saturday's first meeting between our Fightin' Irish and the Temple Owls.  Here goes:

• If Notre Dame wins this game -- Coach Kelly will have his 200th career victory!
• Temple will be the 71st different opponent to visit Notre Dame Stadium -- ND is (57-12-1) in those games
• Temple is the 142 opponent to play Notre Dame in the 126 years of ND Football.  Notre Dame is (118-20-3) when facing an opponent for the first time!

LINK:  ADDITIONAL FUN FACTS

Cierre Wood Rushed For 106 Yards Tonight!

Former Notre Dame running back Cierre Wood rushed for 106 yards tonight against the Dallas Cowboys on just 16 carries!   And, for good measure -- he caught three passes for 29 yards more!

WOW!

LINK:  WOOD CONFIDENT

LINK:  STATS

Coach Kelly Meets With Media Tonight...

The Fightin' Irish held practice inside Notre Dame Stadium tonight -- as they prepare for Saturday's home opener.  After practice, Coach Kelly met with the media -- here's the link to the coverage:

LINK:  COACH KELLY PRESSER

Theo Riddick Scores Two TD's Tonight vs. Bills!

Former Notre Dame running back Theo Riddick scored two TD's tonight in the Detroit Lions exhibition win over the Buffalo Bills.  Riddick caught two passes for TD's and he also ran for 26 yards on six carries. 

Theo is in a big-time battle for a roster spot -- this had to help his chances...

LINK:  STATS

Wear Your College Colors Day -- FRIDAY!

Tomorrow is WEAR YOUR COLLEGE COLORS DAY around the country!  So, ND FANS -- wear your BLUE & GOLD tomorrow!

LINK:  WEAR YOUR COLLEGE COLORS

Photo of the Day! ND Law School T-Shirt Design

"Holding Opponents in CONTEMPT Since 1869."  This is perfect!

Hey Temple -- Are You Ready For This !!!

NBC's New Voice for Notre Dame Football

His name is Dan Hicks and his wife is none other than Hannah Storm '83 of ESPN fame.  Dan takes over for Tom Hammond -- officially this Saturday.  The folks at the Chicago Tribune recently caught up with Dan to talk about his new gig:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL

It's a Big Stage for Temple and its New Coach

Matt Ruhle will run out of Notre Dame's famed tunnel as a head football coach for the first time in his career less than 72 hours from now.  Not a bad place to make your debut!  A Philadelphia Inquirer reporter penned this story on Ruhle's "opening act."

LINK:  THE FIRST TIME

Sports Illustrated Writers -- Not High on Irish

They picked their top FLOP team for 2013 and five out of seven picked our Fightin' Irish.  I trust Coach Kelly will bring this to his team's attention...

LINK:  PICKED TO FLOP

Temple Football Coach Press Conference Today

Temple's head football coach Matt Ruhle, met with the media today to talk about their football game Saturday with Notre Dame.  Here's what he had to say:

LINK:  MATT RUHLE

Temple Week -- Coach Kelly Press Conference

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly met with the media today -- as is customary on Tuesday of game week -- to talk about Temple.  GO IRISH!

LINK:  TEMPLE WEEK PRESS CONFERENCE

NBC's Mike Mayock Talks Notre Dame Football

With the Fightin' Irish of Notre Dame kicking-off the 2013 football season this Saturday -- the media is asking the question -- can the Irish repeat?

Mike Mayock is the "analyst" on NBC's TV coverage of Notre Dame football.  Here's a link to what Mayock thinks of ND's chances this season:

LINK:  MIKE MAYOCK ON ND

Strong & True: Building Bonds from NBC

Here's the replay of Saturday's NBC Sports Network's airing of "Strong & True:  Building Bonds" -- a look at Notre Dame Football.  Enjoy!

LINK:  BUILDING BONDS

Temple Owls -- Media Coverage Today

Took a look at what the Philadelphia media is saying about Temple and their game this Saturday with our Fightin' Irish -- click on the links below. 

This is the FIRST MEETING -- EVER -- on the football field between these two schools.

LINK:  PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

LINK:  ASSOCIATED PRESS

LINK:  PHILLY COM

Brian Kelly on the Dan Patrick Show Today

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly appeared on the Dan Patrick Radio Show today -- here's a link to the interview:

LINK:  COACH KELLY ON DAN PATRICK SHOW

Forbes: Notre Dame's Enduring Brand

A Forbes writer penned an interesting piece on what we can learn about an enduring brand from the University of Notre Dame.  Good stuff here...

LINK:  AN ENDURING BRAND

Excerpt from "UNBEATABLE" -- 1988 Team

"The last great college football season" -- is what you'll see on the cover of UNBEATABLE, a look back at Notre Dame's 1988 National Championship.

Jerry Barca '99 (pictured), a Notre Dame alum -- authored this look back at that magical season for the Fightin' Irish.  Here's a link to an excerpt from the book and a second link to where you can buy it!

LINK:  BOOK EXCERPT

LINK:  BUY THE BOOK HERE

The Latest on Notre Dame Players in the NFL...

Took a lap around the worldwide web this afternoon to see what's being said about former Notre Dame football stars in the NFL.  You can watch a number of former IRISH stars tonight in the game on NBC between the Vikings and 49ers.   (That's Harrison Smith, Kyle Rudolph, Jimmy Clausen and Michael Floyd LtoR in the photo above.)

This morning -- 36 former Notre Dame football stars were still on NFL rosters -- unfortunately, that could change before day's end!

Just click on the player's name below:

LINK:  JONAS GRAY

LINK:  CIERRE WOOD

LINK:  THEO RIDDICK

LINK:  ZEKE MOTTA

LINK:  JIMMY CLAUSEN

LINK:  JAMORIS SLAUGHTER

LINK:  BRAXSTON CAVE

LINK:  BRADY QUINN

LINK:  GOLDEN TATE

LINK:  MICHAEL FLOYD

LINK:  MANTI TE'O

LINK:  SAM YOUNG

LINK:  ANTHONY FASANO

LINK:  ROBBY TOMA

LINK:  MIKE GOLIC JR.

LINK:  DAVID BRUTON

LINK:  ERIC OLSEN

LINK:  DEREK LANDRI

LINK:  DARRIN WALLS

LINK:  JUSTIN TUCK

LINK:  HARRISON SMITH

LINK:  TYLER EIFERT

LINK:  JOHN SULLIVAN

LINK:  KYLE RUDOLPH

LINK:  TREVOR ROBINSON

LINK:  JOHN CARLSON

LINK:  R.J. BLANTON

LINK:  IAN WILLIAMS

LINK:  RYAN HARRIS

LINK:  ARMANDO ALLEN

LINK:  ROBERT HUGHES

LINK:  SERGIO BROWN

LINK:  DARIUS FLEMING

LINK:  BRIAN SMITH

LINK:  TOM ZBIKOWSKI

LINK:  J.J. JANSEN

Painting the Numbers @ Notre Dame Stadium

With the opening game just six days away -- the gang at Notre Dame Stadium is hard at work getting the "house that Rock built" ready for 80,000 fans and the Fightin' Irish.

This photo was "tweeted" by Fighting Irish Digital Media's Jack Nolan.  You can follow Jack on Twitter @NDJackNolan