Michigan v. Notre Dame Preview - East Idaho News
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Michigan v. Notre Dame Preview

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Getty S 090613 Football?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1378479252805Football Texture/iStockphoto(NEW YORK) — No. 14 Notre Dame (1-0) will travel to No. 17 Michigan (1-0) on Saturday night for the second-to-last time in the longtime rivalry that started back in 1887.

Due to conference realignment, the two are scheduled to play one more time in 2014 and both coaches know how important this game is.

“This is a huge football game, a game against a great rival that we have played 29 of the last 35 years,” Hoke said in his opening statement on the weekly Big Ten coaches call.

“Notre Dame is a national brand, like we are,” Hoke continued. “We’re similar in a lot of ways and we look (to recruit) a lot of the same kids. I hope, for college football, that the series comes back.”

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly initially said he didn’t consider Michigan “one of those historic, traditional Notre Dame rivalries,” but changed his tone.

“It’s a great and historical rivalry that we’ll be playing this Saturday,” Kelly said Tuesday. “So let’s get that out of the way right away so we don’t have to answer any more questions about this rivalry.

“We’re excited about the game, excited about playing it. This will be decided by the players on the field and the preparation that goes along with it. So we can stick to that and dispense the nonsense,” Kelly continued.

Notre Dame is coming off a 28-6 win over Temple last Saturday.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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