Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? St. Mary's College when the two met as freshmen in 1968. The Haggar family from Dallas was a prime benefactor for Notre Dame, and his union with Lydia led to Nova- kov moving to Texas in 1976 to begin his career in tax law. He is a share- holder in the Dallas office of the global law firm, Greenberg Traurig, LLP. His community involvement includes the Baylor Health Care System Founda- tion, the Salesmanship Club of Dal- las, the SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors, and leadership positions in various Catholic Diocese of Dallas agencies. Their two children, daughter Isa- bell and son Daniel, are 2002 and 2003 graduates, respectively, of Notre Dame, and the first grandchild arrived last October. The 64-year-old Nova- kov feels his own rebirth with the Cot- ton Bowl's return to glory among the bowls. "We got here now, but this isn't the end all," he said. "Of all the bowls, we have the first opportunity to set the mark. That is our focus and goal, to have the absolute best Cotton Bowl and absolute best national champion- ship game. "The main part is making sure we have proper focus, and that is the same when I played there: having a memory to last a lifetime. I can still see the flags waving, the sunny day, the crowd, the banners. "Every player that comes through there, I want them to have the same experience that I enjoyed. It is one you talk about forever as a highlight in your life." ✦ A Change Of Venue Notre Dame's 5‑2 record in the Cotton Bowl is easily its best in postseason play, where it is 14‑16 overall. The only other bowls where Notre Dame has won at least twice are the Sugar (2‑2 overall) and Orange (2‑3 overall). The five teams Notre Dame defeated in the Cotton Bowl had a combined record of 52‑3, most recently 12‑0 Texas A&M on Jan. 1, 1994. The Irish upset 10‑0 and No. 1 Texas (24‑11) on Jan. 1, 1971, and 11‑0 and No. 1 Texas (38‑10) on Jan. 2, 1978, the latter to capture the national title. The 35‑34 victory versus Houston on Jan. 1, 1979, after trailing 34‑12 with 7:37 left, is considered the greatest rally in Notre Dame history. With all that nostalgia, it was difficult for Notre Dame grad and current Cotton Bowl Chairman Dan Novakov to be part of the vote to move from the old venue to AT&T Cowboys Stadium. "My thought was we can't give up the old Cotton Bowl," Novakov admitted. "But then it was like an epiphany, and I said: 'Wait a minute. I'm an 18‑ or 20‑year‑old kid playing in my first bowl and you're going to give me a choice in stadiums. I'm on I‑30 and we turn to the left to the old Cotton Bowl, or we turn to the right for AT&T Stadium. "There's no choice. I'm going to AT&T. That's turned out to be a focal point for a lot of people, particu‑ larly college football. Their players want to be on that screen. To be able to say I played in that stadium is a big deal. It's like me saying I played in Yankee Stadium." — Lou Somogyi