With seven losses and only one win this season, Notre Dame's 43-game winning streak against Navy may be at risk. But many students, like senior Liz Byrum, are holding out hope that Notre Dame will add one more game to the streak and avoid racking up a historic loss.
"It'll be closer than the ND-Navy game usually is, but we will win," Byrum said.
Freshman Kasey Puls said she is confident she will see her first home win as a Notre Dame student this Saturday.
"Heck yes, we'll win," she said.
Sean Gibbons, also a freshman, expects Notre Dame to keep its winning streak against Navy.
"It'll be a good game, but we'll come out on top," he said.
Sophomore Ben Spitler said the competition Notre Dame has played this season has been tough and that the schedule is a reason for optimism.
"I would hate to be here when we break the Navy streak," Spitler said.
But Spitler doesn't think a win for Notre Dame will come easily.
"It'll be a close game, probably pretty sloppy, but going into the fourth quarter I want to feel like we have a chance," he said.
Some students proposed drastic measures if Notre Dame suffers yet another loss.
"If we end the streak, I'll streak," freshman Rich Schroeder said.
Byrum, the senior, said a loss to Navy after 43 years of winning would be tough to take.
"To see us lose this game would be heartbreaking," she said.
After Navy, Notre Dame will play Air Force and Duke at home, then Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. Puls thinks the last few games of the season will end with better results for the Irish than the first eight did.
"We can't go anywhere but up," she said.
Byrum thinks starting junior Evan Sharpley at quarterback, rather than freshman Jimmy Clausen, will be good for the team.
"It'll be good to see what Evan Sharpley can do - if they keep him starting - which would be a wise choice," Byrum said.
At the very least, Spitler said he hopes Notre Dame will end up a better team than it started.
"I don't think we're going to win every game [remaining] but I hope to see an upturn," he said.
