Students are excited and anxious about tomorrow's match-up between our own Fighting Irish and the Michigan Wolverines.
"I'm excited because I love football, but I'm kind of nervous because it's Michigan and I know a lot of people there," freshman Ella Lozon said.
Sophomore David Riehm said that he will be attending tonight's Pep Rally and is looking forward to the game, which kicks off at 3:30 Saturday afternoon.
"I'm excited," Riehm said. "I think this is really our chance to show that we've cranked it up and can crank it out."
Senior Tomas Castillo said that he will be painting himself in Notre Dame colors for the game.
Although Notre Dame defeated San Diego state 21-13 last Saturday, the team's performance left fans feeling that the Irish have something to prove tomorrow.
"[The game against Michigan] will be a big challenge, especially from the performance last weekend," Castillo said. "I'm apprehensive to see how we do ... I'm afraid it won't be fun to watch again."
Castillo said he had expected the team to perform better last weekend. He said while there were "glimpses of glory" throughout the game, he felt things had not changed much since last year.
"It seemed like the same old team, nothing had changed," Castillo said.
However, Castillo said that the last quarter of the game against San Diego left him feeling hopeful.
"The biggest change is supposed to take place between the first and second games," he said.
With Michigan as tomorrow's opponent, Castillo expects Notre Dame students to be united.
"I'm confident that the student population will still be supportive of the team despite how we do, especially since we're up against Michigan," he said.
An Irish victory would be very exciting for Notre Dame fans, many students said.
"I think if we win, fans are going to go ballistic," Riehm said.
Michigan lost to Utah 25-23 on Aug. 30 and then beat Miami (Ohio) 16-6 last Saturday.
Sophomore Cory Winland thinks that Notre Dame will be able to play well against Michigan because of these scores.
"The San Diego State [game] kind of worried me, but I still think we're better than how we played in that game and Michigan hasn't really looked good this year," Winland said. He said he anticipated tomorrow's game to be more exciting, energetic and fun than last weekend's.
Senior Teresa Nesbitt said she does not really know what to expect from the game against Michigan after the team's performance in last week's game. She also didn't see the Irish perform poorly last year because she studied abroad last fall.
"I'm just going to hope for the best after last week," Nesbitt said.
Other fans are hoping for a better season than the last one, as well.
"I'm really hoping for a better season than last season," Riehm said. "I'm going one game at a time. You get pumped up for the Michigan game and you go from there."
