Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? four elite bowls in college football with the Rose, Orange and Sugar. However, when the BCS formed in 1998, the Fiesta Bowl supplanted the Cotton. "After the Cotton Bowl got shut out of the BCS, that was a killer to me, and I ex- pressed an interest in getting involved," Novakov said of his current affiliation with the bowl. "My goal — not that I alone could do it, but I wanted to be a part of it — was getting the Cotton Bowl back to its rightful position as one of the major bowl games in the country. "We've had great leadership, civic in- volvement, AT&T as a wonderful part- ner and the Jerry Jones family with the new stadium. … It all played a part in getting the Cotton Bowl back to where it is." PIONEER DAYS During the late 1960s, Novakov was part of a trailblazing era for the Notre Dame football program. In 1968, he became the first player from head coach Gerry Faust's bur- geoning powerhouse at Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller High to sign with the Irish. Seventeen more from Moeller would follow through 1981 — when Faust himself was recruited to coach Notre Dame. By 1985, it was up to 21. Then in Novakov's sophomore year in 1969, Notre Dame ended its ban on bowl games, in part because in 1968 the Associated Press decided that it would no longer name its national champion after the regular season. That year, Novakov was the backup center to co-captain Mike Oriard, but he also played at guard and became the third tackle. When senior starting tackle Jim Reilly suffered a neck injury in the regular-season finale versus Air Force and then opted to not attend the Cot- ton Bowl against 10-0 and No. 1 Texas, Novakov was told he would be making his first career start at left tackle for head coach Ara Parseghian's 8-1-1 Irish. "Everybody was energized and ex- cited about going, but we didn't know what it meant and what went on in bowl games," Novakov said. "Once we arrived and started going through the experience we became excited about it. Ara made it not just about the game. We had various bowl functions, and Dallas really rolled out the red carpet for us." The Irish were on the brink of an up- set before several clutch Texas plays led to its game-winning touchdown with 1:08 remaining in the Longhorns 21-17 triumph. Yet the AP voters were so impressed with the Irish effort, they moved Notre Dame up to No. 5 despite the 8-2-1 record. The following year, the junior Nova- kov succeeded the graduated Oriard at center, and with Joe Theismann at the throttle Notre Dame set an NCAA record that still stands by running 92.4 plays per game. Heading into the reg- ular-season finale at USC with a 9-0 re- cord after defeating SEC champ LSU (3-0), Notre Dame accepted a rematch to play No. 1 Texas in the Cotton again — with the Longhorns boasting a 30-game winning streak. Alas, Notre Dame was upset by the Trojans 38-28, dimming dreams of a national title. However, the bowl op- portunity was cherished as a chance at redemption. "We had more fun in the first bowl