Blue and Gold Illustrated

THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI P rior to the start of the 1983 NBA playoffs, the late Moses Malone, who starred with Julius Erving on the dominant 65‑17 Philadelphia 76ers, was asked about his postseason outlook. His famous re‑ sponse was the suc‑ cinct "fo, fo, fo," meaning the 76ers would sweep each of the three playoff rounds 4‑0. Phila‑ delphia ended up losing only once while going 12‑1, h i g h l i g h t e d b y sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. Noticing the four games apiece that Notre Dame has each month this year in September, October and No‑ vember, I too began to think in "fo‑fo‑ fo" mode. Going 4‑0 in September was tena‑ ble, with Georgia Tech's visit looming as the prime threat. Achieve that and Notre Dame positions itself for a "Big Six" bowl played Dec. 31‑Jan. 1. The bar for this year's team — which even head coach Brian Kelly admitted is his deepest and potentially best — was to not only return to major bowl action, but to also win one for the first time since 1993. Meanwhile, October was going to determine whether the Fighting Irish would be a legitimate playoff con‑ tender. The month provides a chal‑ lenging three‑game run with Clemson, N a v y a n d U S C . A n d e v e n a f t e r the lone bye week (Oct. 24), the sup‑ posed "breather" for that month is Temple (Oct. 31) — the way UMass was designated to be in September — which could become one of the top surprises in college football. Each of the four presents unique sto‑ rylines: A t C l e m s o n (Oct. 3) — From 1994‑2010, the Tigers were the southern version of the Fight‑ ing Irish on the football field. In those 17 seasons, even the records were al‑ most identical, with Notre Dame go‑ ing 122‑84‑1 (.592 winning percentage) while Clemson was 121‑88 (.579). The Tigers under coaches Ken Hatfield, Tommy West and Tommy Bowden were often publicized for reeling in top‑level recruiting classes, but 9‑3 generally was the ceiling and the team was often branded as under‑ October Serves As Measuring Gauge Strong line play from people such as senior Sheldon Day could provide Notre Dame the edge during an arduous October. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA

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