Showtime’s Spotlight Shifts at South Bend

Photo Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly, left, during a practice last week with the defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. Credit Joe Raymond/Associated Press The Houston Texans are being tailed at training camp by HBO Sports and NFL Films cameras for the 10th edition of the “Hard Knocks” series.

Ohio State, the national champion, is the subject of a similar effort, by the Big Ten Network, called “Scarlet and Gray Days.”

And in South Bend, Ind., Showtime has started production on a 12-week series about the Notre Dame football team.

Notre Dame offers fundamental advantages to Showtime. It is a national brand, although Notre Dame’s failure to win a national championship since 1988 has reduced its…