Let's see -- the schedule...open this Saturday at Brigham Young -- winnable, right? OK, then round up the usuals -- Michigan at home on the 11th, a night game vs. the Spartan Stadium nasties at Michigan State Sept. 18?

Then Washington (Sept. 25) and Purdue (Oct. 2) at Notre Dame. Five games, three against teams that found their way into last season's Top 25.

Let's put it this way, spinning positive...Win three of the five and you can begin to behold the sunrise over the Joyce Center just across Juniper Road from the hallowed stadium.

Lose ... naahhh, let's not go there. Besides, many are calling this the softest Notre Dame schedule since the middle Lou Holtz years in the early '90s.

No Florida State to go along with the torture rack that the Michigan and U.S.C. games figure to be. Unlike last year, when the Irish were shut out twice in the same season for the first time since Fr. Edward Sorin opened the doors of Notre Dame du Lac in 1842, some would argue.

Toss in home game against struggling Stanford, a yeah-right/neutral-sight game against Navy at East Rutherford, N.J., where probably 80% of the crowd will be pulling for the alleged visitors, and another homie against annoying, but beatable Boston College and the Irish could take a 6-2 record to Rocky Top where they face the roiling sea of Tennessee Orange that is a Volunteers tradition.

Playing five of the first eight at home, four of which the Irish figure to win, might be exactly the confidence builder the beleaguered Fighting Irish need.

Ask Willingham about all this and then get ready to translate the Ty-roglyphics.

"Anytime you have a chance to play at home, most coaches will tell you that you have to play extremely well," Willingham tells Notre Dame beat writer Avani Patel of the Chicago Tribune.

"Hopefully being at home, having that kind of success, catapults you to a very good position as you get into the November part of the season."

That, of course, assumes one executes the "extremely well" part of the bargain cited by Willingham.

Purdue, which has not won in South Bend since Gerald R. Ford was president (Sept. 28, 1974, a run of 13 straight losses), tosses one of the most threatening offenses in America at its 2004 opponents, its "Basketball on Grass" weaponry fired by high-powered Kyle Orton.

Washington? Who knows? The Huskies are not part of the pre-season power elite, but who knows? They are never very far away from bursting into prominence once again.

We don't dare mention Boston College...do we? Only to mention parenthetically that the friggin' Eagles have beaten Notre Dame four of the last five times, including the most recent three in a row.

So it is these first eight games that will not only determine Notre Dame's 2004 fate, but most likely the career path of Mr. Willingham, who for the first two-thirds of 2002 seemed a rookie-season miracle worker, guiding the Irish to an 8-0 start.

But since that deflating -- and, truthfully, galling -- 14-7 home-field upset by Boston College Nov. 2, 2002, Willingham's teams have gone 7-10. Needless to say,
that collar on his polo shirt is a bit tighter this fall.

Even the guys in the Roman collars underneath the legendary Golden Dome will echo the sentiment of "Domers" across the land -- "Win or tie, we're with ya."

But Ty Willingham, the slightly-built former Michigan State defensive back, has heard pretty much the full litany of expectations from one of the nation's most demanding fanbases.

"I really never give it any thought," he says so softly that it almost evades the thicket of microphones within less than a foot of him.

So it is that while fans view 2004 as a possible crossroads in Notre Dame football history, Ty Willingham sees it as opportunity.

Ryan Grant, who lost his tailback position to late blooming Julius Jones in the second half of last year's 5-7 season, feels this could be the year Notre Dame reminds college football they call the statue on the Hesburgh Library "Touchdown Jesus" for a reason.

If Notre Dame is out to prove itself to a horde of cynics, Grant, the 6-feet, 1-inch, 210 pounder from Nyack, N.Y. may well be the metaphor.

"Not to (prove himself) to other people," he tells John Jackson, who covers the Irish for the Chicago Sun-Times, "but to myself. I don't play the game for other people, I play...because I love it and I know what I can do."

What he did in 2002 was rush for 1,085 yards and nine touchdowns in helping Willingham develop a running game that took a great deal of pressure off then-quarterback Carlyle Holiday, who has since been shifted to wide receiver.

When Grant faltered somewhat in the first half of 2003, gaining only slightly over 500 yards last season, Willingham replaced him with Jones, who helped produce Notre Dame's finest moment last year, a 20-14 shocker at highly-favored Pitt, by rushing for nearly 200 yards.

But Jones is gone and, perhaps by default -- definitely by experience, Grant has taken his return to the starting role as a personal crusade.

And, in classic Ty-roglyphics, Willingham produces what sounded like a parable, but really drove home a point.

"I would say it's probably as nice (a "problem") as you can get," he says to Notre Dame beat man Terrance Harris of the South Bend Tribune. "Think about losing a young man the caliber of Julius Jones and being able to replace him
with a guy that you know has already gained 1,000-plus yards in your system."

It is the kind of thinking that will produce some positive vibrations along a remade offensive line that includes former defensive tackle Dan Santucci, a Chicago Catholic League product who lives for the pit battles.

"If you want somebody who is going to hit somebody, then Dan is your man," says guard Bob Morton, who marvels at his mate's intensity.

"That's all I like to do is go out there and hit people," Santucci tells Harris, "so on the run blocks, I just try to drive the guy and hopefully knock him out."

The cynic would say, "Cue in the 'Rocky' theme." But in a sense, Santucci could be speaking for the entire Irish team, because there is a chip-on-the-shoulder desperation to the 2004 Irish that enlivened spring practice and has produced some serious dings-and-bangs during the fall sessions.

The spirited pre-season workouts which elated most Irish insiders, weren't without their downside.

The (barely) walking wounded list isn't short -- Grant (hamstring) will be a gametime decision Saturday, for example, according to offensive coordinator Bill Diedrick. Talented junior Brandon Hoyte -- part of what many consider one of the nation's better linebacking corps (with seniors Mike Goolsby and Derek Curry), is nursing a balky shoulder and defensive ends Kyle Budinscak and Justin Tuck are coming off anterior cruciate ligament surgeries.

Still, the thought of knocking heads, even in the shadows of the Wasatch Mountains where subway alumni will be few and far between, is reassuring to quarterback Brady Quinn, who appears ready for a breakout sophomore season.

"This," he declares to WNDU-TV, the flagship of the Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation that is N.B.C. TV on fall Saturdays when the Irish are at home, "is a challenge. I love challenges."

Built not unlike an amateur bodybuilder at 6-4, 230, he has an arm as powerful as it looks and a platoon of thoroughbred receivers, one of Notre Dame's deepest positions.

"Marcus Freeman," he tells the South Bend Tribune, "has really done an amazing job (at tight end, earning him the likely starting role). He's made a lot of plays, done a lot of things right. He's someone I believe I can rely on."

There are ubertalents like Philadelphian Maurice Stovall, a prototype 6-5, 230 junior who turned down Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State and has National Football League scouts dreaming of an early draft eligibility.

There are a bunch of sprinters who bring 24-karat credentials, and then there is freshman 6-4, 205 Chris Vaughn of New Haven, who was labeled the best football player in the New England states by several publications.

The graduation of Nicholas Setta would seem to have raised a kicking game issue or two, but the emergence of D.J. Fitzpatrick, who is living out a "Rudy" fantasy of sorts, growing up in nearby Granger, Ind., walking on as a freshman and earning a scholarship for his senior year, solidifies Notre Dame's placekicking. He hit 12-of-17 field goals last season when Setta was hurt.

Look at the 2004 Irish and you see as many questions as answers, not necessarily a bad thing. Look at that schedule again -- which closes out with the visit to Knoxville, then a final home game with Pitt and then...U.S.C. in Los Angeles.

Hey, easier is a relative term. But a 7-4 finish and a bowl Irish fans can live with and some serious hope for the future doesn't seem impossible this fall.