Notre Dame vs. Florida State Is Legacy Game for Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly has already solidified his reputation as a program builder. On Saturday night, he has a chance to start building a new reputation: Big-Game Hunter. 

That Kelly quickly turned around Central Michigan, pushed Cincinnati into the BCS spotlight and returned Notre Dame to the national conversation is one thing. But to head to Tallahassee with his young football team and beat the defending national champs? That's a legacy-defining win. 

That the Irish are a double-digit underdog (with the gigantic caveat being Jameis Winston's availability) shows a healthy amount of skepticism for Notre Dame's 6-0 start. Part of that is the less-than-impressive football the Irish have played these last three weeks. Another part is Notre Dame's schedule, which was supposed to be daunting. So far, it's been nothing but paper tigers. 

But history isn't on the Irish's side, either. Since 1998, Notre Dame is just 1-16 against Associated Press Top Five teams, with the Irish losing by an average of more than three touchdowns. (The lone victory? Charlie Weis' 2005 upset over No. 3 Michigan, a Wolverines team that fell apart and went 7-5.)

Add to that the 42-14 thumping Notre Dame took in the BCS title game against Alabama two seasons ago, and you can't blame some for pre-writing their game story.

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

Lumping Kelly into that legacy of futility isn't necessarily fair. But that doesn't mean it isn't fair game. 

"That's how you're measured as a program when you're talking top five teams," Kelly said Tuesday. "Those are the games that you want to win, certainly.

"But I think before I got here, I don't know that we had a top-25 win. So we're moving up the ladder and certainly want to get to that point where we're talking about beating top five teams."

Nothing happens quietly at Notre Dame. But without many people noticing it, Kelly has turned this football program into one that's an awful lot like a national power. 

Dominance at home? When Kelly took over the program, Notre Dame Stadium was a visitor's delight. Charlie Weis lost his final two games at Notre Dame Stadium to Navy and UConn, and only won one November home game in his final three seasons. 

Kelly didn't start fast at Notre Dame Stadium, either. He lost to Michigan, Stanford and Tulsa in his first season. And in 2011, even with music pumping into the stadium and the first night game in 21 years, the Irish laid an egg against USC, losing 31-17 in front of dozens of high-profile recruits. 

But since then, the Irish have gotten things rolling. They've won 17 of their last 18 games at home, their lone loss to Bob Stoops' 2013 Oklahoma team that beat Alabama by two touchdowns in the Sugar Bowl. That dominance has likely led to Kelly getting something he wanted, FieldTurf to match the practice fields—and team speed—of his upgraded roster. 

Defending their home turf is one thing. Playing big in road games is another. Since Everett Golson took over, the Irish have done just that. While prepping for a bowl game that included an almost seven-week layoff is one thing, Kelly and Golson have thrived away from home under more normal circumstances. Before a Top Five victory was the elusive goal, Notre Dame went to East Lansing in 2012 and knocked off No. 10 Michigan State, their first victory over a Top 10 opponent in seven years.

Then Kelly and the Irish did the same in late October. As double-digit underdogs (sound familiar?), Golson and Notre Dame put together a complete performance, handing No. 8 Oklahoma a 30-13 defeat in Norman and giving Bob Stoops just his fifth home loss in 83 games. It's a victory that Kelly will lean on as his team goes through final preparations this week. 

"I think that's a similar environment that we'll go into and we're preparing in that vein," Kelly said Tuesday.

All respect to Landry Jones and the Sooners, but he's not Jameis Winston and they weren't the Seminoles. And while the solutions to Notre Dame's problems lay inward—mostly, not turning the football over—Kelly feels confident that his young team won't feel Saturday's stage is too big.  

"This group does not strike me as one where they're going to go down to Florida State and be affected by the crowd," Kelly said. "So I'm more concerned about our self‑inflicted wounds than I am what may happen because of the environment. They're a pretty focused group on what they need to do. We just need to make sure that we don't make the mistakes we've made over the last few weeks."

While it makes for a great sound bite, Notre Dame's past struggles against Top Five teams certainly won't dictate future performance. After all, as B/R's Mike Monaco points out, the Irish haven't been in a Top Five matchup since 1996, when most of this team was still in diapers. 

In his fifth season in South Bend, Kelly's team may be young, but his program is ready for this moment. And while Saturday will answer questions about this young Irish squad, it offers a great opportunity for Kelly to start legacy building. 

"What a challenge it's going to be to go down there and take on the defending national champs," Kelly said Wednesday on his ACC conference call. "That's why you play these games. You want to be part of them."

*Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand.