(Not that anyone was asking for this, but perhaps it can elucidate your own personal experience as a Notre Dame football fan.)
I already talked about this in my OFD introduction piece, but I grew up a Kentucky basketball fan. Being from Lexington made it easy to know who to root for. I never really supported UK football, though — mainly because I had no interest in the sport and they were always a basketball school with one of the worst programs in all of the FBS — until Mark Stoops got there.
I only got into college football as a freshman at Notre Dame, because what else is there to do on a fall Saturday in South Bend?