This week in Notre Dame history, trivia and much, much more

In an effort to keep alive the mission and spirit of Lou Somogyi, this every-Monday piece looks at the upcoming week in Fighting Irish history. This one covers Jan. 30 thru Feb. 5. 

Know your Domers trivia 

(answers below)

1) What team did Notre Dame beat in 1957 to break the opponent’s 47-game winning streak? 

2) What team did Notre Dame beat in Ara Parseghian’s last game as head coach on Jan. 1, 1975?

3) How many kickoffs did Raghib “Rocket” Ismail return for touchdowns at Notre Dame?

Fighting Irish Birthdays 

*Mike Kovaleski (1/30/1965)

-Kovaleski, who turned 58 today, was a standout Irish linebacker from 1983-86. The lone team captain on Lou Holtz’s first team in 1986, Kovaleski still ranks seventh all-time at Notre Dame with 353 career tackles. 

*Edward “Moose” Krause (2/2/1913)

-The late Krause, who was born 110 years ago on Thursday, was an All-American football and basketball player at Notre Dame. He also coached the Irish in both sports and later served as the university athletics director for 32 years. Krause died on Dec. 11, 1992, at age 79. 

*Dave Casper (2/2/1952)

-Casper, who turns 71 on Thursday, played tight end at Notre Dame from 1971-73 where he became a Consensus All-American and a national champion in 1973. A College Football Hall of Fame inductee and a second-round draft pick in 1974, “the Ghost” played 11 NFL seasons, won a Super Bowl with the Raiders 1976, was a four-time first-team All-Pro and eventually became an NFL Hall of Fame inductee. 

*Harrison Smith (2/2/1989)

-Smith, who turns 34 on Thursday, was a linebacker and safety at Notre Dame from 2007-11. After making the position switch to the defensive secondary, Smith finished his college career with 223 tackles at safety, the fifth-best career mark for an Irish defensive back. A first-round draft pick of the Vikings (29th overall) in 2012, the six-time Pro Bowl player recently completed his 12th season in Minnesota. 

*Walt Patulski (2/3/1950)

-Patulski, who turns 73 on Friday, was an All-American defensive lineman at Notre Dame from 1969-71. As a senior, Patulski won both the Lombardi Award and UPI Lineman of the Year honors. The overall No. 1 pick by the Bills in the 1972 draft, Patulski recorded 21.5 sacks in 70 NFL games over six seasons. 

Memory lane

Feb. 1, 1987

Unranked and 11-5, Notre Dame defeated No. 1 North Carolina 60-58 at home in men’s basketball — the seventh time the Irish beat a top-ranked AP team. Led by head coach Digger Phelps, the Fighting Irish rallied from a 32-16 deficit and from down 53-44 with 4:30 left in the game.

Junior guard David Rivers led the comeback with 8 points in that closing stretch, including a 15-foot jumper to put the Irish ahead (56-55) for good with 1:06 left. Junior center Gary Voce, who was averaging 1.9 points per game, was named NBC-TV’s Most Valuable Player with 15 points and 10 rebounds. 

Feb. 1, 2012

Third-year head coach Brian Kelly signed the second smallest recruiting class in school history with 16 players. The Irish inked only 15 players in 2005 during the Tyrone Willingham/Charlie Weis transition. The Irish also signed only 17 recruits in 1984 and 2004.

Hurting the numbers in 2012 were the decommitments from five-star receiver Deontay Greenberry (Houston), cornerback Ronald Darby (Florida State), offensive tackle Taylor Decker (Ohio State), and athlete David Perkins (Ohio State).

The crown jewel of the class was five-star quarterback Gunner Kiel (rated behind only Florida State’s Jameis Winston). Kiel would transfer following his freshman year.

Feb. 3, 1993

The National High School Player of the Year, quarterback Ron Powlus signed with Notre Dame to form the “Dream Backfield” that included fellow USA Today first-team All-American RB Randy Kinder, and Parade All-American RB Robert Farmer.

The 22-man class ranked No. 2 nationally by SuperPrep and No. 3 by Tom Lemming, although questions arose about how a drop-back passer would fit into the ground-oriented offense of head coach Lou Holtz.

“I can hear it already — ‘We aren’t using his talents and abilities … we aren’t doing this, we aren’t doing that,’” Holtz said on National Signing Day, a comment that would prove prophetic. 

Feb. 4, 2009

After a rather non-descript recruiting season, Notre Dame got a boost on National Signing Day when National Defensive Player of the Year Manti Te’o stunned the nation by selecting the Irish over juggernaut USC and its popular head coach Pete Carroll.

The Hawaiian linebacker made his official visit to Notre Dame during the shocking 24-23 loss at home to 2-8 Syracuse in freezing weather. A week later, the Irish were pummeled 38-3 at USC to finish the regular season 6-6. 

Those two games made any thoughts of Te’o choosing South Bend over Los Angeles seem foolhardy. 

Know your Domers answers:

1) No. 2 Oklahoma on the road

2) No. 2 Alabama in the Orange Bowl

3) Five

— Blue & Gold Illustrated Managing Editor Steve Downey, and the late-great Lou Somogyi contributed to this report