Thursday: Best of LaFortune
LaFortune from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.
In this open house of LaFortune's offerings, you can get a peek at everything from WVFI to student government. Grab up free food before all of the student organizations close up their stores for the semester. You can also enter to win great prizes including Michigan State and Army game tickets, more Domer Dollars, a Playstation 3 or an iPad. Best of Acousticafé, with performances from the best student musicians on campus, will also be occurring in the basement of Legends at 10 p.m. on Thursday.
Friday: Dillon Pep Rally
South Quad at 6 p.m.
A kickoff weekend staple, the Dillon Pep Rally moved to a bigger stage and took over full pep rally duties last year following a one-year hiatus. Be prepared for pointed criticism of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's life, musical performances by the fine men of Dillon and the entire football team and a special guest appearance from "Crackhead," whose entire act composes of smashing plates on his head. You might want to get some Grab ‘n' Go and camp out on the quad in the afternoon if you want to be able to see much of anything, though.
Saturday: Midnight Drummers' Circle
The Dome at 12:01 a.m.
If you're a freshman or just haven't made it up to God Quad on Friday nights of game weekends, don't miss this (fairly young) Notre Dame tradition. The drumline from the Band of the Fighting Irish treks up to the Dome to play 45 minutes (and sometimes longer) of Notre Dame cheers, chants and sometimes a few songs on the marimba (a big hit last year was Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA"). It's a jam-packed, high-energy warm-up to Saturday's game atmosphere, and it's definitely a lot peppier than a pep rally.
Sunday: Men's and women's soccer
Alumni Stadium
Women vs. Texas Tech, 1:30 pm
Men vs. California, 7 pm
Catch the Notre Dame soccer teams in action, with enough time in between for dinner. The women's team, annual contenders for the national championship, is 2-0 heading into the matchup with Texas Tech. Their games consistently sell out, so make sure to get there with enough time to catch the student seats. The men's team, coming off a 3-0 stretch in pre-season play, will take on California later in the evening.