Notre Dame and Michigan State meet for 71st time Saturday on NBC

Notre Dame
(0-3) faces longtime rival

Michigan

State (3-0), Saturday,
3:30 p.m. ET on NBC in a rematch of their dramatic game from last season, won
by Notre Dame 40-37 at Spartan Stadium. Freshman QB Jimmy Clausen makes his
first

South Bend
start. Coverage begins on NBCSports.com at 3 p.m. ET with the “Vonage
Notre Dame Countdown to Kickoff” (see details below).

Tom Hammond (play-by-play) and Pat Haden (analyst), joined by first-year
sideline reporter Alex Flanagan, who is a reporter for the NFL Network and
formerly worked for ESPN, call the action.

UniversalHD will offer “Notre Dame Encore,” high-definition
rebroadcasts of each Notre Dame home game on Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. ET.

HEAD TO HEAD:

This meeting will be the 71st all-time between the rivals. It is the Irish’s
fourth-most played series (trailing only Navy, USC and Purdue) and the
second-most frequent with any school in the Big Ten. Notre Dame holds a 44-25-1
lead in the series and took last year’s meeting, 40-37, in Spartan Stadium,
scoring 16 fourth quarter points to rally for the victory. The Irish scored the
go-ahead touchdown with 2:53 remaining on a 27-yard interception return.
Michigan
State
has won the last five at Notre Dame Stadium and is looking to become the only
school to ever win six straight in

South
Bend. In 2005 at Notre Dame, the

Michigan
State
came away with a 44-41 overtime win and then angered the Irish faithful by
planting the Spartans flag at midfield.

HADEN
ON
CLAUSEN:

“I saw him enough in high school to believe he has a high upside. He has a
good arm, the size and mechanics. He also has shown me great maturity and
doesn’t appear flustered by Notre Dame’s start. His body-language indicates to
me that he’s still confident.”

HADEN
ON
COACH CHARLIE WEIS:

“They lost 15 starters from last year and that’s almost impossible to
replace immediately. Charlie is obviously a very good coach and I expect them
to be more competitive sooner rather than later, even with the schedule they
have ahead of them.”

NOTRE DAME ON NBCSPORTS.COM AND NBC2GO:

To complement NBC’s broadcast coverage, NBCSports.com will offer an innovative
40 minute pre- and post-game live webcast surrounding the Notre Dame TV
coverage. Bill Patrick will host, subbing for Paula Faris, who is on maternity
leave. The “Vonage Notre Dame Countown to Kickoff” and the
“Vonage Notre Dame Post Game Report,” live webcasts will originate from
Notre Dame Stadium and extend the NBC television broadcasts by providing an
unprecedented depth of Notre Dame coverage utilizing the Internet. The post
game report will feature live coverage of Coach Charlie Weis’ press conference.
Fans can also visit NBCSports.com at halftime to see live coverage of the
performances of the Fighting Irish marching band as well as the visiting
school’s band.

This year, NBCSports.com is also offering Play Action provided by Jacked, a
personalized on-line experience for fans offering real-time data including
statistics and in-stadium photos. Additionally for the first time, fans will be
able to watch Notre Dame home games on their mobile phones through NBC Sports
Mobile and NBC2Go.

Another addition this year is each week NBCSports.com will broadcast a classic
game between Notre Dame and their upcoming opponent. This week, NBCSports.com
features Notre Dame’s game against

Michigan

State from 1991.

REMAINING NOTRE DAME ON NBC SCHEDULE (ALL GAMES BROADCAST IN HD):

Saturday, September 22 Michigan State 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 13 Boston College
3:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 20 USC
3:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 3 Navy
2:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 10 Air Force
2:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 17 Duke
2:30 p.m.

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