Mention Notre Dame football and you think about 11 national championships, seven Heisman Trophy winners, Knute Rockne, The Four Horsemen, George Gipp, and Touchdown Jesus. Right?

Wrong.

You think about "The Luck of the Irish."

Let us review:

	Sportswriter Grantland Rice immortalized Notre Dame's Four Horsemen in 1924.

The Four Horsemen: In 1924, during the Golden Era of Sports, Harry Stuhldreher, Elmer Layden, Jim Crowley, and Don Miller rode into the American conscience on the typewriter of Grantland Rice. After Notre Dame defeated Army 13-7, Rice wrote, "Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore, they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only their aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Ground this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildered panorama spread out upon the green plain below."

And, of course, Notre Dame capped off that first national championship season in '24 by defeating Stanford 27-10 in the Rose Bowl. And, of course, the score didn't exactly reflect what occurred that afternoon.

Playing on two broken ankles, Stanford's fabulous fullback Ernie Nevers rushed for 114 yards on 34 carries. The Four Horsemen together outgained Nevers by only 13 yards. Nevers was named the game's Most Valuable Player. But Notre Dame still got the W.

Luck of the Irish?

"Win One for the Gipper:" During a scoreless game against Army in 1928, Rockne had to pull one out of his hat at halftime. He harkened back to George Gipp and spun a story that might or might not have been true. He told the Irish players about former Notre Dame halfback's deathbed wish back in 1920. According to "Rites of Autumn," This is what Gipp supposedly told his coach: "Rock, I know I'm going ... but I'd like one last request ... some day, Rock ... some time -- when the going isn't so easy, when the odds are against us, ask a Notre Dame team to win one for me, the Gipper."

Rockne did. His "Win One for the Gipper" speech turbo-charged Notre Dame to a 12-6 victory. Given that Gipp was a balletic and swift runner whose Notre Dame rushing record would stand until 1978, Rockne could not have chosen a better role model. Or could he? He failed to mention that the Gipper was a pool hustler, card shark, and gambling machine. According to Patrick Chelland's "One for the Gipper," at halftime of a losing effort, Rockne once blistered Gipp for his lackadaisical effort. Gipp said, "Look, Rock, I got $400 bet on this game. I'm not about to blow it." Grantland Rice knew about the secret side of the Gipper, but didn't write it.

Luck of the Irish?

End of the Oklahoma 47-game win streak: The Pope himself would not have given the Catholics an outside shot against Oklahoma in 1957. This was the nadir of Notre Dame football experience, the first and last time football scholarships were reduced. The Irish had won only six of their last 16 games. Even with Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung at quarterback the previous year, Notre Dame lost to Oklahoma 40-0. In South Bend.

But November 16, 1957 will never be forgotten in Notre Dame lore.

Old-timers in Oklahoma still claim that Notre Dame spied on Sooner practices. Bud Wilkinson, the most intelligent coach of his era, went brain dead in the second half, believing he could win by playing for field position. But Notre Dame drove 80 yards in 10 minutes, scoring the winning touchdown on a toss sweep to Dick Lynch, who could have walked into the end zone from three yards out with three minutes to play. Thanks to a miscommunication in the huddle, three of the four OU defensive backs had lined up on the other side of the field. Notre Dame 7, Oklahoma 0.

Luck of the Irish?

No. 1 vs. No. 2, 1993: Both Florida State and Notre Dame were riding 16-game winning streaks. FSU was ranked No. 1, Notre Dame No. 2. A Florida State player made a mistake by trying to de-mystify the Irish, referring to the "Three Horsemen" and "Rock Knutne."

Notre Dame led by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. So the Irish players claimed there was no luck in the 31-24 victory. But how do you explain Charlie Ward throwing his first interception in his last 159 attempts as FSU tried to tie it?

Luck of the Irish?

When the question was posed to FSU coach Bobby Bowden, he said, "I believe in that lucky stuff because we've played them up there."

You better believe that Bowden believes in luck.

As a kid growing up in Birmingham, when games were rarely televised, Bowden listened to virtually every Notre Dame on radio. He was beside that RCA when Johnny Lujack led the Irish to the national title in 1947. He knows that Frank Leahy won four national titles in 11 years, and coached the Irish to a 39-game winning streak.

And he has watched seven Notre Dame game films this season.

Here are the facts: