Was it the coaching that led to Notre Dame's fall from grace? Was it the strict academic rules that hindered efforts to recruit better talent? Was it the long-held belief that every opponent gets up for Notre Dame? Or are the days when Notre Dame could compete regularly for the national championship simply over?

The Irish, coming off a 5-6 season that ended Bob Davie's disappointing five-year run (35-25) at ND, will start to find out under new coach Tyrone Willingham, who knows all about high academic standards from his Stanford days.

	Carlyle Holiday and Notre Dame are attractive for any bowl.

The Irish face another challenging schedule that includes a trio of Big Ten teams -- Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State -- that are capable of making Willingham's start frustrating. Mix in Florida State, USC, Boston College and Pittsburgh, not to mention a suddenly successful Maryland, and Willingham's Irish will have their work cut out for them.

Elsewhere, South Florida and Troy State head a dwindling number of independents who are bucking the trend of giant conferences with secured bowl tie-ins. The Bulls (8-3) and the Trojans (7-4) both compiled solid records last season that included some impressive surprises on their patchwork schedules. Utah State (4-7 last season) will continue to air it out, while Connecticut (2-9) and Navy (0-10) again face difficult autumns.

At least they won't labor under the intense scrutiny that annually befalls Notre Dame, where victories, which are so widely expected by alumni, fans and media, have been tougher to come by lately. Davie goaded his team into the Fiesta Bowl in 2000, but a 41-9 shellacking at the hands of nouveau riche Oregon State merely underscored the Irish's shortcomings.

An offseason rape case involving four current and former Irish players, which came on top of the George O'Leary hiring disaster, contributed to ND's growing image problem.

As if Willingham didn't have enough distractions, Julius Jones, the Irish's leading rusher, the last two seasons, will sit out this fall amid reports of academic problems. In addition, quarterback Matt LoVecchio, who had led ND to seven straight wins in their 2000 run to the Fiesta Bowl, has transferred to Indiana.

That leaves Willingham to rely on Carlyle Holiday, who doesn't appear to be suited to the West Coast passing game Willingham favors. However, Holiday showed some solid athletic flashes last season, and the precise Willingham has gotten high marks for his early efforts to establish rapport and structure for his new players.

Like the offense, the defense doesn't look overwhelming, particularly because of the departure of safeties Donald Dykes and Abram Elam, who are charged in the rape case. The Irish hope some youngsters will step up, particularly on the defensive line.

If this doesn't shape up as a banner year for Notre Dame, there are some positives. What's considered sub par recruiting at Notre Dame still leaves a lot of potentially solid players, and the schedule has some possibilities if Willingham can find some reasonably effective combinations. If not, there are many opponents that could take a piece out of Notre Dame, and we're not just talking about Florida State and Michigan.

Game of the Year
Purdue at Notre Dame. Tyrone Willingham makes his home debut Sept. 7 as Irish coach in a game that could be a barometer of ND's season. If they can take care of business against a good, but not imposing Boilermaker squad, the Irish will show they can be competitive in this transition year. If not, they could be for an 0-3 humiliation vs. Big Ten teams -- and they could have their hands full with some other teams they usually handle.

Offensive Player of the Year
Wide receiver Kevin Curtis, Utah State. The former walk-on led the nation with 9.1 catches per game last season, and was third with 139.2 receiving yards a game. With senior quarterback Jose Fuentes back, Curtis is poised for another explosive year.

Defensive Player of the Year
Defensive end Shurron Pierson, South Florida. The 6-3, 240-pound Pierson, whose strength is quickness, had 10 sacks last year on a defense that helped the Bulls to a surprising 8-3 record, including a win at Pittsburgh. With eight starters back on defense and another uneven schedule, Pierson could improve on that sack total.

Herb Gould covers college football for the Chicago Sun-Times.