SOUTH BEND — No one on No. 19 Notre Dame needs convincing about how tough Navy is to play.
The Fighting Irish (6-2) remember how the Midshipmen gave them a scare last season by recovering two onside kicks and scoring two touchdowns in the final 99 seconds before the Irish held on for a 27-21 victory.
Just as vivid is a season earlier, when Navy beat Notre Dame 46-44 in three overtimes to end a 43-game losing streak to the Irish.
"That was kind of the low point of my career," Irish center Eric Olsen said. "Obviously that season wasn't a season that any of us really want to remember. But when you have a streak that long against a team, you hate to be the team that gives that streak up."
The Midshipmen (6-3) say the memory of ending the NCAA's longest losing streak by any team to a single opponent gives them confidence.
"We'll keep that in the back of our minds as a reminder that we have done it before," cornerback Blake Carter said. "We know that we have the ability to beat Notre Dame."
That wasn't always the case. The Irish beat the Midshipmen annually by an average margin of 24 points from 1964-2006, winning by 30 points or more 16 times. Navy was able to keep the game within a touchdown or less just six times.
Still, year after year, Irish players would talk about how dangerous Navy was and how difficult it was to play the Midshipmen. The players always sounded sincere, but it still seemed a bit hard to believe. That's not the case any more.
The Irish players say playing Navy isn't like any other game. Navy may not be as athletic as some teams the Irish face, but they are more tenacious.
"There's no other way around it," safety Kyle McCarthy said. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful with other teams we play. Navy, I mean, you can just feel it as a player. When you talk about going whistle to whistle, they go from whistle to the end of the whistle. That's why we respect them so much."
But Olsen said it isn't just the effort that makes Navy so tough.
"Their schemes on offense and defense, they're good at what they do," he said.
With its triple option offense, Navy has led nation in rushing for four straight years. This year they are ranked third at 279.8 yards per game.
Navy doesn't pass much, attempting only 71 passes all season. Two weeks ago, Navy didn't throw at all against Wake Forest in a driving rainstorm.
Irish coach Charlie Weis is also concerned about the Navy defense, which he called the best he's seen in his five years here. The Midshipmen are 27th in the country in total defense, giving up an average of 316 yards a game.
The Irish can't afford to lose if they want to keep their hopes for a Bowl Championship Series berth alive, while Navy needs one more victory to be eligible for the Texas Bowl.
Both teams get back key players from injuries. Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd will play for the first time since breaking his left collarbone six weeks ago. Floyd is averaging 27.5 yards a catch.
Quarterback Ricky Dobbs will start for Navy after missing the Wake Forest win with a cracked bone in his right knee and getting in for seven plays in the 27-24 loss to Temple last week. He remains Navy's second-leading rusher with 595 yards and still leads the nation with 16 rushing touchdowns.
"When you sit out two weeks, I don't think you're ever at full capacity," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said.
Dobbs said this game is "personal" because his roommate is a die-hard Notre Dame fan and has showcases all sorts of Fighting Irish memorabilia in their dorm room.
"Me and his family are real cool. They said they would be rooting for me, but that their hearts were still with Notre Dame," he said.
Notre Dame spent some time this week working on defending against onside kicks after last season's embarrassment, with Weis calling it "an onside kickathon."
The Irish players say Navy's rally taught them a lesson.
"Navy is a team that never quits," McCarthy said. "We can't take our foot off the gas."
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