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Irish Rallying Cry: We Still Matter

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Notre Dame got exactly what it deserved Saturday night, and now comes the backlash for a program many perceive is awash with arrogance.

Second-year Coach Charlie Weis is a control freak who tries to micromanage the administration, the groundskeepers, the South Bend Tribune and everything that goes out of his office with a green-rubber stamp.

“Not on my watch,” is what Weis reportedly said about losing again to Michigan State, the kind of bulletin-board braggadocio that is tolerable only if you can back it up.

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Take that, Part Deux, Notre Dame!

A wipeout home loss to Michigan, followed by an embarrassing road defeat at Michigan State leaves the Irish reeling at 2-2 and left to wonder ...

... What?

Notre Dame rallied to beat Michigan State?

Scored 19 unanswered points?

Produced the game-winner on Terrail Lambert’s 27-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:53 left?

Channeled Harry Houdini when a Michigan State pass in the final seconds ricocheted off two people before Lambert pinned it against the back of a Spartans receiver for an interception?

Wow, that’s different.

That changes everything.

“I think sitting where we were at halftime last night [trailing 31-14], to be sitting 3-1 right now, I’d have to say we should feel fortunate,” Weis said at his Sunday news conference.

Only in college football can a game on Sept. 23 featuring No. 12 vs. unranked affect the balance of a national title race, major bowl bids and the Heisman Trophy.

But such is the power of the Irish.

That improbable comeback win at East Lansing put college’s 800-pound gorilla back in the room.

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A second defeat probably would have dropped Notre Dame out of the top 25 and possibly rendered the Irish irrelevant in 2006.

“I wonder how I would have dealt with this if it would have come to fruition,” Weis said.

As it shakily stands, Notre Dame can still influence:

* The national title race.

USC fans who have it in their DNA to wish Notre Dame the kiss of defeat should actually be thrilled the Irish beat Michigan State. The line from “The Godfather: Part II” was “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

Notre Dame’s win might help USC get to the BCS title game.

If USC is in a close Bowl Championship Series standings battle with Ohio State and Auburn, the Trojans need the Irish as highly ranked as possible when they come to the Coliseum on Nov. 25.

Notre Dame should be favored to win all of its remaining games before USC: Purdue, Stanford, UCLA, Navy, North Carolina, Air Force and Army.

A win over those top-10 Weis guys could be what USC needs to solidify its BCS argument.

* The bowls.

Notre Dame has been stripped of some payout power under new BCS rules but still wields plenty of muscle.

And here’s how that Michigan State miracle helps: Notre Dame is the only BCS team that gets an automatic bowl bid if it finishes in the top eight of the final BCS standings. It can be considered for an at-large bid if it’s in the top 14, meaning the Irish might still get asked to a major bowl even if they lose to USC and finish 10-2.

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That’s bad news for any bowl-eligible team from a major conference. Don’t forget what happened last year to Oregon when the Fiesta Bowl took the Ducks out for a courtesy lunch but escorted Notre Dame to the BCS banquet.

Notre Dame also controls the fate of Big East Conference bowl teams. If the Irish don’t go to the BCS, they go to the Gator Bowl, knocking all Big East eligible schools down a peg.

* The Heisman Trophy.

Entering the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s game, quarterback Brady Quinn seemed a longshot to win the Davey O’Brien Award.

By leading Notre Dame’s comeback and throwing for five touchdowns, though, Quinn reestablished his big-trophy candidacy and might now be one prime-time victory against USC from becoming Notre Dame’s first Heisman-winning quarterback since John Huarte in 1964.

“The game was on the line, he threw five touchdown passes,” Weis said. “What more can you say?”

Weekend Wrap

* So much for that adjustment. Oregon remained No. 12 and Oklahoma stayed at No. 16 in Sunday’s USA Today coaches’ poll, meaning no self-correction was made to resolve last week’s Oklahoma-Oregon fiasco.

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Last week, the coaches jumped Oregon six spots, from 18th to 12th, after a 34-33 win over Oklahoma in a game that most people believed Oregon lost. Conversely, Oklahoma last week dropped five spots to No. 16.

The Associated Press writers did seem to address the situation, dropping idle Oregon one spot this week to No. 14 and raising Oklahoma one position to No. 16.

The AP poll, however, is no longer used as a component in the BCS standings formula.

The first Harris Interactive poll, which will be used in the BCS, opened with Oregon at No. 13 and Oklahoma at No. 16. So, apparently, Oregon did win that game last weekend in Eugene.

Harris and the USA Today-voting coaches have the same top four: Ohio State, USC, Auburn and West Virginia.

Good news: Unlike last year, the word “Idaho” did not appear anywhere in the Harris poll.

* Rutgers is 4-0 for the first time since 1980 and ranked in the top 25 for the first time since 1976. Of course, that’s not the end of the story for the perennially plagued New Jersey program. With success is revealed the story of Piscataway Phil, Rutgers’ knockoff of a famous groundhog known to Punxsutawney, Pa. The story goes that Rutgers football is doomed every time Piscataway Phil sees his shadow after emerging from a gully near the Scarlet Knights’ practice field.

Here’s the thing: No one’s seen the groundhog yet this year.

* Strangest on-camera incident involving an official took place not in Arizona but in the West Virginia-East Carolina game after players halted play because they heard a whistle. Turns out it came from the stands, prompting the official to make this open-mike warning to the East Carolina crowd: “Please keep that whistle in your pocket!”

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chris.dufresne@latimes.com

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