King of Football Road May Face Its Toughest : Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish have won all six of their games away from home. Their four Orange Bowl losses offer a special challenge against Miami in Saturday game.

Notre Dame has been king of the road in college football this season, winning all six of its games away from home. But Saturday’s game at Miami may be the toughest of them all.

The top-ranked Fighting Irish have lost their last four games at the Orange Bowl by a combined score of 139-22, including a 24-0 loss in 1987. In fact, Notre Dame hasn’t won at Miami since 1977.

However, the game that everyone is talking about is last year’s 31-30 Notre Dame victory at South Bend, Ind. The Irish knocked down a 2-point conversion pass by Steve Walsh with 45 seconds left to halt a 36-game regular-season winning streak by the Hurricanes.

Miami committed an uncharacteristic six turnovers that day and lost a fumble on a controversial call.

At the time, Miami was the defending national champion and top-ranked team in the country. This time, the roles are reversed. Notre Dame has won 23 games in a row and is trying to became the first national champion to repeat since Alabama in 1978-79.

“They have the same kind of winning streak we had last year and they knocked us off,” Miami receiver Dale Dawkins said. “This year we want to do the same thing to them. Last year was their time. This year it’s our time.”

Miami must win to keep alive its hopes of a national title. The once-beaten Hurricanes are ranked seventh but could win the championship if they beat Notre Dame and go on to defeat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl while Notre Dame knocks off Colorado in the Orange Bowl.

“Everybody’s been shooting for this game for a long time,” said Miami Coach Dennis Erickson, who, because this is his first year with the Hurricanes, has only heard of the heated past in this rivalry. “Our players are glad to finally get a chance to play it.”

The key to the Miami-Notre Dame game is how effectively the Irish can run the ball. Notre Dame is averaging 301 yards per game on the ground, and is coming off a 425-yard performance at Penn State, best ever against the Nittany Lions. But Miami has the second-best rushing defense in the country.