Editor’s Note: The original intention of the “30 Years of Notre Dame on NBC” series was to set the stage for the 30th year of the partnership. But then 2020 intervened with a fury, and the season did not grant the time to publish the last half dozen entries. As 2020’s reach lengthens 2021’s winter doldrums, there is no reason not to walk down those memory lanes now.
By the time Notre Dame took the field in its 1996 home finale, everyone knew the facts of the occasion. For whatever reasons, Rutgers would be the final opponent Irish head coach Lou Holtz would face at Notre Dame Stadium.