A-one-and-a-two...

And that was before playing Pitt.

The Whine-O-Meter trembles at what Holtz has been saying about Florida State. "Golly Ned, they're the best football team I've seen in all my years of coaching, and I've been coaching more than 30 years now. They're capable of beating any team in college football by 40 points. I'll be honest. They have the ability to embarrass us."

Too late, Coach. The players stopped listening in September. Notre Dame, minus one point.

DOES LOU HOLTZ REALLY SAY GOLLY NED?
Yes. Notre Dame, minus another one.

RECRUITING
These two schools are the Coke and Pepsi of recruiting. Notre Dame's recruiting class has been ranked No. 1 by SuperPrep magazine four times since 1987 and No. 2 once. Florida State's was No. 1 this year and has been in the top three four times in the last seven years. Three times in the last four years, these two schools have run one and two. Dead even.

WOW STATS
Florida State has outscored its opponents 98-13 in the second quarter. Florida State has outscored ranked opponents 158-31. Against Virginia, Florida State played 61 guys in the first half. Wow. Florida State, two points.

BRIEF INTERLUDE NO. 3

There is a real difference between a Florida State player and a Notre Dame player, and Seminole cornerback Clifton Abraham says he knows what it is.

"A Notre Dame player is more of a white-collar, altar-boy type," Abraham says. "A Florida State guy, man, you're going out with your Armani shades on, your shorts, your sandals, your tank top, just relaxing. You're in your '93 500 SL convertible. A Notre Dame guy might be, like, in a Sears suit, driving a '92 Camry. A Florida State guy is sort of like Madonna. A Notre Dame guy is more like, you know, Reba McIntyre."

"That's not true," says Notre Dame receiver Clint Johnson. "I drive an '86 Toyota Celica."