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✦ NEWS & NOTES BY LOU SOMOGYI SOUND MINDS, PHYSICAL BODIES In the seven seasons from 2002-08, Stanford produced a record of 25-55 (.313 winning percentage) and didn't once fin- ish above .500. The normal reaction was its par for the course. Stanford was the "Harvard of the West," and its culture was built more around the Olympic sports, where it would win the Director's Cup every year. How- ever, it could not and did not recruit the "thug mentality" required in the violent sport of football. Its football identity had been built pri- marily on finding excellent quarterbacks — Frankie Albert, John Brodie, Jim Plun- kett, John Elway, Trent Edwards, et al — to fling the football around while trying to win shootouts and get just above .500. Enter new head coach Jim Harbaugh in 2007. His first two teams were 4-8 and 5-7, but he was drastically changing the culture. Yes, the Cardinal would possess yet another first-rate passer from 2009-11 in Andrew Luck, but the team's identity centered on a hard-nosed running game (led by 2009 Heisman runner-up Toby Gerhart) and a physical, smash-mouth, blue-collar style on both sides of the line of scrimmage. By Harbaugh's third season in 2009, Stanford finished with a winning record (8-5), and in his fourth year it was 12-1, capped with a BCS bowl victory. Har- baugh then departed for the NFL, but his imprint remained on the program during last year's 11-2 campaign — plus another BCS bid — under his former assistant, David Shaw. In Notre Dame head coach Brian Kel- ly's first two seasons, the Irish beat USC once, had Michigan on the ropes twice and whipped Michigan State 31-13 … but Stanford was a different animal. It wasn't The game between David Shaw's Stanford team and Notre Dame marks the first meeting between two football programs that are listed in the AP top 20 and in the top 20 of the U.S. News & World Report college rankings. PHOTO BY JIM SHORIN/COURTESY STANFORD ✦ PAGE 11 just that the Cardinal won decisively in 2010 (37-14) and 2011 (28-14, with the Irish scoring a touchdown in the closing seconds), but in the way it did. "If there is one team that has physi- cally beaten us, it's been Stanford — and our players know that," Kelly said. "They turned the film on and watched what they did to their opponents. They physically intimidated their opponents, and that's clear. …They don't need much push from me to know what to expect this weekend." Stanford likes to flex its muscle on both sides of the ball — attacking defenses with a persistent running game and big tight ends, and whipping offenses with an aggressive group of linebackers. The front seven headlines a charge that is sixth nationally against the run (77.2 yards al- lowed per game) and averages 8.8 tack- les for loss per game (fourth most in the country). On offense, senior running back Stepfan Taylor, who Kelly called the heart of the Cardinal team, is averaging 111.0 yards per game so far this season, and split wide as tight ends are the daunting presences of 6-8 Levine Toilolo and 6-6 Zach Ertz, who have combined for 39 catches at a clip of 17.4 yards per grab this year while creat- ing matchup problems (see "Storylines" on page 7). Kelly said this year's Fighting Irish team — which has given up a total of three touchdowns — has closed the gap physically. "I think we're stronger physically across the board," he said. "We're a mature foot- ball team. We have a lot of veterans on de- fense. From an offensive line standpoint, we feel like we can handle ourselves much better." Interestingly, Kelly's model to rebuild- ing Notre Dame has mirrored the Cardinal — although it wasn't nearly as bad off as