Notre Dame vs. Indiana: Subway Alum Shares Pride Ahead of Playoff Showdown

Being called a Notre Dame Subway Alumni isn't the burn some outsiders think it is

Notre Dame head coach greets fans as he walks into the stadium before a NCAA college football game against Florida State at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame hosts Indiana tonight in the first game of the expanded College Football Playoff era. First Round tournament games are being played on campuses for the first time this weekend and of course college football's most known cathedral hosts the opener.

The matchup pits college football blue blood Notre Dame against the feel-good Hoosiers who are having perhaps their most memorable year on the gridiron.

Notre Dame Stadium has seen an insane list of happenings over the years both good and bad, but even this is a first.  

Nov 19, 2022; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Lisa Link and her son Ezra, 6, sit on snow covered bleachers in Notre Dame Stadium during the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Boston College Eagles. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Almost as soon as the matchup was announced, a stark difference in the two football fan bases was immediately noted - specifically by Hoosier's backers.

“Post a picture of your Notre Dame degree” was the essence.

Since you asked - here’s mine:

A Notre Dame Subway Alum Degree | Nick Shepkowski

It’s me - a proud Subway Alum.

And as Tupac once said, I didn’t choose the Subway Alum life, the Subway Alum life chose me.

Sometime in the early 90’s I remember Notre Dame football being on the television on fall Saturdays and not being able to get enough of it.

It certainly helped that the likes of Rick Mirer, Jerome Bettis, Reggie Brooks, Aaron Taylor, Jeff Burris and plenty of others were usually dominating an opponent, sure.

Oct 28, 1989; South Bend, IN, USA; FILE PHOTO; Notre Dame Irish head coach Lou Holtz on the sideline at Notre Dame Stadium. | RVR Photos-Imagn Images

Then there was the energetic head coach Lou Holtz at that time, who had in his previous coaching contract an out clause specifically written for the Notre Dame job.

Strange thing for a non-Notre Dame graduate to do, right?

Somewhere in the 1991-92 seasons I bought in and by the memorable year of 1993 I was entirely hooked. While some others from my group of friends in the far south Chicago suburbs waited to watch the Bears on fall Sundays, my weekend was structured around what time the Irish were playing.

As I neared my teens I realized I was anything but the only one that did this.

I never had an overly close relationship with my grandfather but each August he’d mail me the Northwest Indiana Times college football preview.  Everything I needed to know about that year's Fighting Irish squad was in that paper.

I came to find out my dad wrote persuasion essays in high school about how Notre Dame deserved to be crowned national champions over Michigan State and Alabama in 1966.

Fall Saturdays in high school essentially went as follows:  film in the morning, team breakfast after where College GameDay was the norm, and then decide where we’re watching Notre Dame.

Ronnie Mueller, Jimmy Looper, Brock Martis, and Matt Melvin and Blaine were the biggest Irish backing teammates of mine but others would join us to watch - and to have all day Saturday sessions of NCAA Football for PS2. All the while, in would stroll Jake Turner trying to troll us while he wore his new Miami or Southern Cal hat.

Nick Shepkowski and sister Becky before BYU game in 2003 | Becky Shaw

I can distinctly recall watching the early 2000’s Notre Dame games against Michigan, Florida State, Washington State, and plenty of others with them and others while having my sister attend St. Mary’s at this time only fanned the flames.

As I went to college it didn’t take long to find there were more like me out there.  I’d start writing out my Notre Dame and college football thoughts on message boards and the old version of Bleacher Report and be amazed when other Subway Alums would comment and reach out.

20-some years later that circle has only grown.  I make a real-life living getting to do this now. Somebody pinch me.

Mitch Stoermer from Cincinnati, who I met through my college roommate after graduation, still sends me annual replays of the Miles Boykin block to spring Tony Jones against USC in 2018.

Jay Zawaski, a longtime co-worker of mine and brother I never had is still immediate to jump into my texts the second the Irish make (or give up) a big play.  The Notre Dame connection to his late grandfather is similar to mine, and so many others.

Chris Tannehill, another longtime coworker and friend might not be heard from as often but will send a video of Jeremiyah Love trucking a USC defender from his seat in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

5-Foot Nothin' Mike from Texas regularly reaches out and each game day, tags me and plenty of other Notre Dame fans in his tweet as he gets ready for kickoff as if he's in South Bend.

#ICB #GoIrish ☘️@JLGallagher3 @craiGo574 @faithful_irish @dosleprechauns @AlwaysIrishINC @DardsDoinIt @GoldenIsthyName @IrishJTL @redsnapper909 @nolangoND34 @Regisan42 @ColtsFanatic09 @Bif_13 @NDMatt317 @MikeSloan01 @IrishFireSox @steviedirish @NickShepkowski @rescalvo_luis pic.twitter.com/pnFsJdKn2o

— 5 Foot Nothin, 100 & Nothin (@5FootNothinPod) November 30, 2024

The fellas I’m happy to call teammates here at Notre Dame on Sports Illustrated- John Kennedy, Mason Plummer, and Nathan Erbach - are cut from the same cloth.  With them a late-night message in the group chat about not being able to sleep before a big game is met with similar feelings.

Heck, even the non-Notre Dame fans in my life can’t wait to be a part of that connection. After a tough loss I get more texts from people i haven’t heard from for months than I do on my birthday.

Exactly zero of those people I above mentioned went to Notre Dame, but the connection a silly football team that wears gold helmets brings is undeniable.

There may be a small portion that act different, but the Notre Dame graduates I know are beyond welcoming to me and my fellow Subway Alumni crowd.

So, tonight is for all of you - fellow Subway Alums or actual Notre Dame grads.

Notre Dame fans see the team off the field after winning a NCAA college football game 35-14 against Virginia at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There are few things in the world that can connect the masses like sports do. For me and for so many of you, it's Notre Dame football that does just that and tonight it will occur on the biggest stage.

Whether you’re lucky enough to be at Notre Dame Stadium watching up close (for Heaven's sake if you are - put down the wine and cheese and GET LOUD), in a bar in Chicago or New York, or in the California sunshine like my friend Tommy Baron will be, enjoy the heck out of the spectacle that will be Friday night.

As Lou Holtz famously once said: "Those who know Notre Dame, no explanation's necessary. Those who don't, no explanation will suffice."

Man, alive do I feel sorry for those who don't.

Go Irish.

Beat Hoosiers.

And what do you say we all meet again in the unique ways we do for the Sugar Bowl on New Years Day night?

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