Notre Dame.

Seperate paragraphs. Separate spheres. Separate lots of stuff. But more and more, year-by-year, good theatre.

That these two seemingly divergent Division I-A football programs on the surface have precious little in common, other than being the only Catholic-affiliated universities in I-A's 117-member fiefdom.

By now the Establishment vs. the Chip-on-the-Shoulder tales have been documented, redocumented and retold ad nauseam.

But when you put Notre Dame-Boston College under the looking glass, you come up with one inescapable conclusion: You are witnessing the growth of yet another major college football rivalry.

Oh, Fighting Irish apologists will groan, put a lid on it, will ya? We play Michigan, Michigan State, U.S.C., Purdue -- those are rivalries. Penn State, Tennessee, Washington, U.C.L.A. are on our future schedules.

Boston College?

Hah.

So, you're asking, what in the name of Fr. Sorin were the Irish doing wearing green home jerseys as they took the auld sod of Notre Dame Stadium Saturday prior to yet another frustrating loss (14-7) to the gnats from Chestnut Hill, Mass., their third to B.C. in the last four outings?

Depends, of course, on whom you ask.

"We have been talking about the sea of green all season and I wanted to get our team involved in it," said Notre Dame coach Ty Willingham, whose 8-1 team fell from No. 4 to No. 9 in The Associated Press ratings, 6th to 10th in the Coaches' poll, talking to The Boston Globe's Michael Vega.

"The sea of green is important, because it talks about attitude. It talks about the Notre Dame family and the football team coming together as one."

And, as was the case nine years before, on a sunny, chilly November Saturday seemingly scripted for what third-year Athletic Director likes to call "A Notre Dame moment," the second question surfaced. If this was a no-big-deal date on Notre Dame's onward-to-victory march toward a possible 2002 national title, how did it attract the largest crowd (80,935) in Notre Dame Stadium history?

Which is where Tom O'Brien picks up the narrative. "I think our guys saw it as Boston College, as far as Notre Dame is concerned, has arrived," O'Brien told over 150 media afterward.

The truth probably lies somewhere in between. Willingham was going for one of the rarest of Irish records, trying to tie Ara Parseghian's rookie coach record of nine straight wins.

Understand the Eagles were largely outplayed in this game, as Notre Dame seemed perpetually camped in the shadow of Boston College's goalposts, poised to shake down the thunder at least a few times.

Instead, after its only real drive -- a 38-yard short fielder following a Josh Ott recovery of a botched Tyrone Holiday/Ryan Grant exchange, climaxed by Derrick Knight's 3-yard run -- the Eagles forced four more turnovers, including a 71-yard Ott return of a desperation Pat Dillingham shovel pass for the decisive touchdown.

And Notre Dame came away pointless in five "red-zone" trips, until a last-ditch 69-yard drive resulted in a 20-yard Holiday to Maurice Stovall touchdown pass, a spectacular leaping grab in the right front of the end zone, to pull the Irish within a touchdown with 2:25 left.

As was the case last year in Chestnut Hill, where the Irish lost 21-17, Notre Dame scored a statistical blowout, outgaining the Eagles 357-184, including 22 first downs to 9, and limiting B.C. quarterback Brian St. Pierre to 9-for-20 passing for 77 yards, sacking him four times.

But B.C.-Notre Dame games are full of lies, damn lies and statistics, it seems.

Running back Derrick Knight, whose two critical possession runs on Boston College's subsequent possession following the Irish T.D. all but crushed Notre Dame's comeback hopes, had called Notre Dame "lucky" during the week.

"I said that Notre Dame was a good team," Knight semi-fibbed to the South Bend Tribune's Vaughn McClure. "I said that we hadn't played them yet. They were saying that (Notre Dame) was the best defense we've faced, and I said Miami had a great defense."

You could have talked to 200 players Saturday and gotten 200 different takes on the significance of B.C.'s fifth victory in the series' last 10 games.

But maybe St. Pierre, who took a fearful pounding from Irish front sevenfolk Ryan Roberts, Darrell Campbell, Kyle Budinscak, Justin Tuck and Courtney Watson, offered one of the best perspectives.

"We wre ready to go and they were, too," said St. Pierre, a childhood Notre Dame fan who was near tears when David Gordon broke Irish hearts Nov. 20, 1993 with his last-second field goal as B.C. upset the No. 1 Irish 41-39.

"One of their players said to me, 'Not today. It ain't happening today.' I didn't say anything back to him, but I was just like, 'We'll see about that.' And we went out and we took it from 'em."

In Ott's case, quite literally. He was a LeVar Arrington/Jack Lambert/Dick Butkus/Lawrence Taylor clone out there.

"We had a lot of folks hurt defensively (major hittors Antonio Gary and Doug Gary are gone for the season)," Ott told Vega. "But a wounded dog is most dangerous."

Ott accounted for 12 tackles -- five unassisted -- and ultimately may be the Gordon figure who blows up yet another N.D. national title shot.

"You don't know when everything is going to come to you," the junior linebacker from Silver Spring, Md., told Vega. "But the trick is always to be around the ball and eventually something good is going to happen.

"While I was running, I just kept thinking, 'Don't trip, don't trip, don't trip."

The only thing that tripped on a Saturday full of upsets was the minefield Notre Dame had been so carefully navigating.

And now there are four remaining unbeatens -- Oklahoma, which leapfrogged Miami in the A.P. poll, Miami, which remains No. 1 in the Coaches poll, Ohio State and Bowling Green (No. 16 Coaches, No. 20 AP).

But this is all of little consolation in the shadow of the Golden Dome. "Touchdown Jesus"'s arms raise in despair. The Brand X Catholic school, run by east coast Jesuits, had stolen yet another "Irish Moment."