A SORRY CHAPTER

Air Force pilot Scott O’Grady had his audience spellbound during a pep rally on Notre Dame’s campus one Friday night last season, telling his story of surviving six days on bugs, grass and rainwater after his F-16 was shot down over Bosnia in 1995.

In closing his inspirational message of hope, faith and answered prayers, he began to speak about the emotions he had felt when he spotted his rescuers.

“It was a vision like I had never seen,” he said, “a vision of . . . “

Before he could finish, a student yelled, “Jenny McCarthy!”

The audience, knowing the actress and former Playboy centerfold was on campus, roared.

So it didn’t turn out to be “Win one for the Gipper.” But don’t be fooled by that temporary lapse in solemnity. Football has not become a laughing matter at Notre Dame.

The Knute Rockne Travel Plaza on the Indiana Toll Road between Chicago and South Bend might now be dominated by McDonald’s golden arches, but let the Irish lose four consecutive games, as they did this season, and I guarantee you the echoes have been awoken.

These days, they sound like fax machines.

Bill Bilinski, sports editor of the South Bend Tribune and the Irish Sports Report, said there is a steady whir in his office after games on Saturdays as fans fax to vent their displeasure.

“Some of the faxes reach our office even before the game statistics are in,” Bilinski said.

Many call for the dismissal of Coach Bob Davie.

“It took the Catholic church several centuries to determine that Galileo was right,” one fan from St. Louis wrote. “I hope the good fathers figure this one out a little sooner.”

In his first year as head coach at Notre Dame, in his first year as the head coach anywhere, Davie, 43, is off to a 2-4 start.

Saturday’s 45-21 victory at Pittsburgh lifted his spirits enough for him to start musing about the possibility of a bowl game, instigating media speculation that the Irish might be matched with Miami of Ohio in the Pontiac Silverdome’s Motor City Bowl.

To maintain the momentum necessary for the Irish to win six games and qualify for a bowl game, they probably have to beat Saturday’s opponent, the 2-3 USC Trojans.

*

Under a blue-gray October sky, the leaves are changing colors, the geese are flying south and there is a slight chill in the air. It looks and feels like the week of the USC-Notre Dame game in South Bend.

“A New Coach, A New Stadium, a New Streak,” T-shirts in the campus bookstore read, presuming that Notre Dame will resume its dominance after the Trojans ended their 13-year winless streak in the series with a 27-20 overtime victory last December in the Coliseum.

But is a rivalry based entirely on the premise that both teams are national powers still vital in a season when neither is?

Before the season, Notre Dame announced that there was greater ticket demand for this game than any other in its history.

That’s somewhat misleading because the Irish have more tickets available than ever before, having spent $50 million on a stadium renovation that expanded capacity from 59,075 to 80,225.

It is true, however, that Notre Dame received more ticket requests for this game than any of the five others at home this season.

Interest since has waned. Theresa Alt of Preferred Tickets, an Indianapolis broker that in seasons past had no difficulty moving Notre Dame tickets, said Thursday she has received few calls this week about Saturday’s game.

“We had a lot when the season began,” she said. “But it fell off to almost nothing when Notre Dame and USC started losing.”

For the first time since 1960, both teams play this game with losing records. It’s only the third time in the last 35 meetings that neither is nationally ranked.

Both coaches, Davie and John Robinson, spoke this week about the significance of this rivalry, which began with Rockne and Howard Jones in 1926 and has been uninterrupted since 1946. The Irish lead the series, 39-24-5.

But when asked if he had noticed the usual anticipation building on campus for the game, Davie nimbly sidestepped the question.

“I don’t get out much,” he said.

*

The reason should be obvious. Both he and Robinson have been preoccupied with X’s and O’s as they search for combinations that will save their seasons. Robinson also is trying to save his job.

“I can’t tell you how important this game is for all of us on the team, for the situation we’re in, “ he said Tuesday, when he announced he would quit at the end of the season if the Trojans haven’t improved.

Like Robinson, Davie is grappling with offensive linemen who aren’t opening holes for underwhelming running backs, inexperienced defensive linemen and linebackers, underachieving secondaries, an inconsistent quarterback, an erratic kicker and lost confidence.

Unlike Robinson, Davie isn’t pointing a finger at himself.

Many others are, questioning his ability as a tactician for a team that didn’t score a third-quarter point until last Saturday.

Davie, the Irish defensive coordinator for three seasons who filled in ably as the head man for one game when Lou Holtz had neck surgery in 1995, immediately began to spread goodwill when he replaced Holtz for real last December.

He has written letters to all former Notre Dame lettermen, letting them know that they remain important to the football program. He has invited parents of all players to Friday practices and arranged picnics for them on days of home games. He has learned all of his players’ names, even walk-ons. Remembering names wasn’t one of Holtz’s strengths.

Neither, some say, was recruiting in recent years. It’s a sensitive subject here, but Davie is merely stating a fact when he says there were only 12 starters returning this season from an 8-3 team that didn’t go to a bowl game.

Holtz, who has a powerful forum as a CBS studio analyst, has refrained from analyzing the Irish, except to say, “Talent-wise, the team is outstanding.”

He has endorsed Davie.

“Let’s not go changing things that don’t need to be changed,” he said.

Perhaps he recalls that he also started his first season at Notre Dame with one victory in his first five games.

The difference is that Holtz, inheriting a team that went 5-6 under Gerry Faust the season before, lost three of those games by a combined total of seven points, one of them 24-23 to third-ranked Michigan. The Irish won four of their last six, one of them 38-37 over USC at the Coliseum.

Davie’s team lost by only seven points at No. 6 Michigan but was not impressive in its other games until last Saturday at Pittsburgh.

No one was more surprised than Davie. Even though he knew the Irish didn’t have as much talent as in other seasons, he said a couple of weeks ago that he thought they would take a 3-0 record and a top-20 ranking into the game at Michigan.

When their record fell to 1-4, he started over.

“We approached last week like we were 0-0,” he said.

Even if no one else bought it, his players did.