Time enough at last. (AP)

By Holly Anderson

Here follows an account of the reign of Nick Saban from the years 2015-25, commonly referred to by better historians as the Wilding Tuscaloosa era.

The year is 2015. The season, midwinter. Flush with six national titles, four of them consecutive, five at Alabama, even the agile football mind of Nick Saban atrophies with boredom. Staring listlessly at a commitment list that’s a unanimous pick for tops in the nation, a list that will bolster a roster that’s already a consensus national title favorite, in the predawn dim of National Signing Day, the crafter of college football’s most unassailable modern dynasty crumples a piece of copy paper into a wad the size of a golfball with the density of sandstone. It’s time at last, time to turn on the cheat codes, Saban’s last defense against the dulling of his edge. He needs to be tested again.

But the codes are not for his benefit. They’re for yours.

And from now on, everything’s gonna be different. Well — almost everything.
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Safety Tray Matthews seems ready to become a key contributor for Georgia’s defense. (Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports)

By Zac Ellis

While many top recruits wait until late in the summer to arrive on campus each year, the practice of enrolling early is becoming more and more popular across college football. By adapting to school and taking part in spring practice, incoming freshmen and juco transfers are able start learning a system  — and working their way up the depth chart.

According to a USA Today report, 162 high school prospects in BCS automatic-qualifying conferences opted to enroll early in 2013, the highest total since 2002. In all, 61 of the 73 AQ-conference schools brought in at least one early enrollee.

Skipping senior prom in lieu of helmets and pads can have its advantages. Here are 10 early enrollees, listed alphabetically, who raised eyebrows across the nation:

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University administrators are exploring options to expand Notre Dame Stadium. (Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

By Zac Ellis

Notre Dame Stadium could be set for a major facelift. University administrators are “exploring an innovative approach to campus planning that would take advantage of the central location of the football stadium,” the school announced on Thursday.

The plans would call for combining a student center, media center and classroom and conference center into the existing Notre Dame Stadium. “Inspired by the University’s campus master plan, we will study the possibility of accomplishing multiple objectives — namely, preserve the campus’ pedestrian character by taking advantage of a central location for needed facilities, retain the integrity of a legendary stadium, improve the visual attractiveness of the exterior stadium wall, and enhance the game-day experience for our football fans,” Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president, said in a release.

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Who Says You Can’t Go Dome? (AP)

By Holly Anderson

Notre Dame fans (and Hey God, if You’re listening), ever find you Gotta Have A Reason to Have A Nice Day? Here’s one: Get Ready for an injection of star power in South Bend, because Jon Bon Jovi’s son, Jesse Bongiovi, is walking on to your football team.

Happy Now?

What About Now?

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Behold the quarterback of the future. (AP)

By Holly Anderson

Just a quick follow-up to yesterday morning’s Louis Nix appreciation: If you haven’t had enough Intentional Fat Guy Scoring in your week (and who has?), marinate for a while in Notre Dame blog One Foot Down’s breakdown of his spring game breakout play:

While playing quarterbacks who can run is in vogue in college football, a few coaches have toyed with bigger QBs who are more rhino than cheetah. Urban Meyer rode Tim Tebow to two national championships at Florida, and Bob Stoop has had success with Blake Bell in short yardage situations at Oklahoma. But Brian Kelly took it one step further when he put his 350 pound nose tackle into the game at quarterback, and may have changed college football as we know it in the process.

Notre Dame defender Louis Nix stole the spotlight Saturday with this rumbling two-point conversion play. (USA Today)

By Zac Ellis

After yet another weekend full of spring football games, here’s a rundown of the latest news and notes from across the nation:

• Notre Dame: The Irish defense came to play in the annual Blue-Gold game on Saturday, accounting for 10 sacks, two interceptions and a safety in the scrimmage. The offense, however, failed to find its groove, with second-year quarterback Everett Golson finishing 6-of-13 passing for 98 yards with one interception. He was also sacked three times. Coach Brian Kelly said he wasn’t concerned with the offense’s struggles, admitting he’d seen improvement on that side of the ball throughout spring. But the offense did find a spark late in the game when nose guard Louis Nix III took a goal-line snap and rumbled in for a two-point conversion. Perhaps Kelly should consider that package for the fall.

• Alabama: The Crimson Tide were anything but streamlined in Saturday’s A-Day game. The Crimson and White teams combined for nine turnovers — six interceptions and three fumbles — in the contest, leaving coach Nick Saban understandably upset. “The biggest thing I was concerned about was how the team would go out there and what would be their energy, their enthusiasm, and their attention to detail,” Saban said. “I don’t think that there were enough guys that answered that question in a positive way to my liking. But I’m never satisfied.” SI.com’s Lars Anderson reported on the game from Tuscaloosa. Oh, and AJ McCarron’s famous female companion Katherine Webb also made an appearance.

• Penn State: Around 28,000 fans ventured to Happy Valley for the Nittany Lions’ spring game this weekend, braving the icy elements in State College. But there wasn’t much closure for fans hoping to get a feel for Penn State’s quarterback situation, in which Steven Bench and Tyler Ferguson are battling for the starting job. Coach Bill O’Brien was non-committal when discussing both passers after the game, but the competition may become more heated when five-star recruit Christian Hackenberg arrives on campus this summer.

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By Holly Anderson

Four years and three jobs ago, when we began our life’s work chronicling Fat Guy Touchdowns, we didn’t really place value judgments on whether the score in question happened as the result of a turnover or by cunning design. Alert reader Greg has changed all that, wondering whether the Louis Nix two-point conversion in Notre Dame’s spring game is made less special by its lack of serendipity:

Pro: This is awesome.

Con: But we like football best when what’s happening on the field is a surprise to everybody.

Pro: But we really, really like seeing guys who don’t get to score regularly trundling into the end zone.

You decide:

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By Zac Ellis

According to Brett McMurphy of ESPN, Notre Dame will honor the first responders and victims of the Boston Marathon bombings by wearing special helmet decals during the team’s spring game:

Notre Dame will put this decal to honor Boston on helmets for Saturday’s spring game twitter.com/McMurphyESPN/s…

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) April 19, 2013

Coach Brian Kelly tweeted a picture of the decal adorning one of his team’s helmets:

We will honor all of the victims of the Boston Marathon tragedy tomorrow with a new helmet decal. twitter.com/CoachBrianKell…

— Brian Kelly (@CoachBrianKelly) April 19, 2013

This is nice gesture by the Irish, and follows yesterday’s news that UMass will allow Boston Marathon runners to run a lap during its spring game. The Minutemen will also wear special helmet decals.

The Cardinal applauds the possibility of a Louisville-Notre Dame game in 2014. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

By Zac Ellis

Right on the heels of Thursday’s news that Notre Dame and NBC have extended their television partnership through the 2025 season, reports have surfaced surrounding a potential big-time opponent for the Fighting Irish in 2014.

According to Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune, Notre Dame is set to face off against Louisville during the 2014 season.

And, talking down-the-line schedules, #NBC exec Jon Miller mentioned that #NotreDame will play #Louisville in yet-to-be-released 2014 slate.

— Brian Hamilton (@ChiTribHamilton) April 18, 2013

Louisville and Notre Dame are each coming off successful 2012 campaigns. The Irish reached the BCS national championship game for the first time since 1988, while the Cardinals upset heavily favored Florida in the Sugar Bowl. If both programs stay the course, their reported 2014 meeting could shape up as a Top 25 clash.

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NBC and Notre Dame have extended their television deal through the year 2025. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

By Zac Ellis

NBC and Notre Dame have renewed their television partnership for 10 more years, through the 2025 season. The extension will bring the partnership to 35 years, the network announced on Thursday.

The new deal begins during the 2016 campaign and gives NBC rights to a minimum of seven Notre Dame home games per season. NBC Sports Digital will continue to live stream Irish home games, as the network has since 2009.

“While our relationship with NBC Sports is longstanding, the more recent merger between NBC and Comcast has opened up additional avenues to expand the breadth of Notre Dame-related sports programming on NBC platforms,” said Notre Dame vice president and athletics director Jack Swarbrick. “Specifically, the evolution of the NBC Sports Network has provided opportunities for special programming featuring inside looks at our football team and several other Notre Dame sports programs and in-depth profiles on the unsung heroes of Notre Dame athletics. These are examples of the growth of our partnership, and we look forward to collaborating on additional projects and distribution strategies in seasons to come.”

The school and the network first kicked off the partnership in 1991, when NBC began televising Irish home games. Revenues from the NBC contract have played a large role in Notre Dame’s scholarship fund, having provided more than 6,300 Irish undergraduate students with nearly $80 million in financial aid over the duration of the deal.