Notre Dame Football: Will a Win over Stanford Propel the Irish to 2012 Success?

You can criticize Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly for starting out slow in both of his first two seasons in South Bend, but you at least have to give him credit for once again finding a way to rally his team during the stretch run of the season.

After a disappointing 4-3 start to their 2011 campaign, the Irish have rebounded and racked up four consecutive victories to move to 8-3 on the year.

To be fair, Notre Dame’s schedule hasn’t exactly been overwhelmingly difficult this season. An 8-3 campaign with just one win over a ranked opponent isn’t something that fans are exactly joyously celebrating.

However, what would get their attention is if the Irish can go out to Stanford and take down the No. 6 Cardinal this weekend.

Stanford has shown some major weaknesses and vulnerabilities in its past two games against Oregon and Cal, and Notre Dame has the talent on both sides of the ball to match up well with QB Andrew Luck and the rest of the Cardinal.

If Kelly’s team can find a way to pull out a win and then proceed to win a bowl game, which would push their record to 10-3, it would be a major momentum booster for the 2012 season.

Everyone around South Bend knows that next season is going to be a do-or-die year for Kelly and his team, and they could really use the positive energy going into a real pressure-packed offseason.

With a win, though, would come higher expectations for next season. As we saw with this year’s team, as well as with other recent Irish squads, Notre Dame isn’t exactly great at living up to high preseason expectations.

Still, Kelly’s going to have to live with high expectations. He’s coaching at Notre Dame, where expectations are always two or three wins higher than they should be.

Kelly knows that a win over Stanford would help earn his program some much-needed national street cred, and it will give his players the confidence they need for next season.

Whether they beat Stanford or come up short really means nothing in terms of postseason positioning, as the Irish are likely destined for an appearance in the Champ’s Sports Bowl either way. Nevertheless, Kelly knows the importance of this game is more about 2012 than it is about this year.

Call it whatever you want—whether you say it's a statement game or a revenge game—it doesn’t matter. The point is, Notre Dame has the opportunity this weekend to show the college football world that they’re once again worthy of their trust and respect.

A win over Stanford would help salvage an otherwise mediocre season, and it would set up Notre Dame to be in position to finally make good on all their hype in 2012.