| It had been eleven years since Notre Dame had claimed a national championship, but in 1988 Lou Holtz led the return of the "Fighting Irish" back to the elite of the college football world. With regular season victories over Miami, who had been #1 in the country, and USC, Notre Dame secured their eleventh national championship by knocking off #3 West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl, 34-21. Going 12-0 to claim the national championship, Lou Holtz followed in the tradition of Notre Dame coaching legends Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine by winning a national championship in his third season. |
