Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 3, 2026 51 very tough. The Four Horsemen would become discouraged, and they realized that without the first-string line before them, their ability would go to pieces. "At the psychological moment then, Rockne would send in his regular line, every member of which, after the first play, would chime in, 'What's the mat- ter with you fellows? Can't you get any place? I guess you need some help. All right, let's go now.' The constant appli- cation of Rockne's curative psychology kept the Four Horsemen on the alert." A n o t h e r i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t o f Rockne's philosophy was sportsman- ship. Winning was only valued when it was achieved with honor. "Sportsmanship, in Rockne's lan- guage, lay in the ability of one boy to see another's point of view," Stuhldre- her wrote. "A boy playing on a college team must be a credit to those whom he represents. He must never use foul tactics, even if it seems to get him some place. Rockne drilled this principle into his team. He stressed the point that it must never happen. "Rockne taught his boys that when they were out on the playing field, they were representing the college, the fac- ulty members and its students. If any one of the team did something off color, a black mark would go up against the boy and the college. However, if a boy lives up to the principles of sportsman- ship, he not only reflects credit on his college, but on his community and on his family." Success didn't spoil Rockne, said Stuhldreher, because the coach always sought something fresh, something new. "He kept his fingers on the pulse of the public, his opponents, and on his associates. He knew what they wanted. He knew how to keep away monotony by introducing novel plays. He built up the coaching and the playing of football on the whole. He did all this by untir- ing work and it was his personality, his perseverance, his inability to lay down on the job." ✦ Jim Lefebvre is an award-winning Notre Dame author and leads the Knute Rockne Memorial Society. He can be reached at: jim@ndfootballhistory.com Marcus Freeman broke Rockne's Notre Dame record for consecutive wins by 10 or more points with a 27-10 victory over Michigan State Sept. 19. The Irish won 13 straight by double- digit margins from Week 3 of the 2025 season through Week 3 of the 2026 campaign. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER