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✦ TOP STORYLINES: NOTRE DAME VS. MICHIGAN BY LOU SOMOGYI 948 The day before Notre Dame's 1976 opener against Pitt — the eventual na- tional champion that year — 1956 Heis- man Trophy winner Paul Hornung spoke at the Irish pep rally. A year earlier, Pitt running back and Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett shredded the Notre Dame defense for 303 yards rushing and also caught three passes for 71 yards in a 34-20 Panthers victory. Even as a freshman in 1973, Dorsett rushed for 209 yards in a loss to the na- tional champion Irish. Hornung, who was working the Notre Dame Sunday Replays, promised the charged-up audience that he would "jump out of the press box if No. 33 of Pittsburgh [Dorsett]" gained 200 yards on the Irish again. His proclamation evoked jubilation … but upon further review, the realization was that he was conceding 199 yards to a supreme running back. Despite a 61-yard run by Dorsett on Pitt's first play during their 31-10 thump- ing of Notre Dame, Hornung did not need a parachute in the press box. Dorsett fin- ished with "only" 181 yards on 22 carries, and fortunately he sat out the last two series for Pitt. "In the history of Notre Dame football, it is not likely that any one player ever stirred such terror in so many Irish heads or clouded up so many Irish eyes," Sports Illustrated wrote of Dorsett. Michigan senior quarterback Denard Robinson might become an exception. Never in Notre Dame football annals has one opponent had such mind-boggling production in back-to-back victories than Robinson's 948 yards of total offense the past two seasons. As a sophomore in 2010, he led Michi- gan to a 28-24 victory at Notre Dame with 502 yards total offense — 258 rushing and 244 passing. Last year in Michigan's amazing 35-31 come-from-behind victory, Robinson was "limited" to 446 yards total offense — 338 passing and 108 rushing. "He's a superior football player," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said of Robinson. "… He's the best player on the field." Robinson has had the golden touch against Notre Dame in so many ways: • In 2010, he had the second-longest run ever from scrimmage against the Irish, an 87-yard touchdown (behind only Michi- gan State's Dick Panin 88-yard dash in 1951). He also scored the game winner with 27 seconds left in the contest. His 258 yards rushing were the third-most against Notre Dame, behind Dorsett's 303 in 1975 and the 261 by USC's Charles White in 1979. • In 2011, Robinson did his most dam- age via the pass. Despite tossing three interceptions, his 11 completions netted 30.8 yards per pass. Michigan's rally from a 24-7 deficit began with Robinson releas- ing a pass while in the clutches of Irish lineman Kapron Lewis-Moore that went for 77 yards to Junior Hemingway — who also caught a 43-yard TD from Robinson earlier in the game. On the game-winning drive, Robinson connected with Jeremy Gallon for 64 yards and then followed with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree with only two seconds left. The "chunk plays" by Robinson have been the difference, according to Kelly. "We have to find a way to limit big- The Irish have been unable to contain senior quarterback Denard Robinson, who has compiled 948 yards of total offense while guiding Michigan to a pair of last-second victories the past two seasons. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL ✦ PAGE 7 chunk plays — just like we have the first two weeks," Kelly said. "We gave them up in the running game in year one, and we gave them up in the passing in year two."