Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State is only three days away

To preview one of the most anticipated games for Notre Dame this century and the official start of the Marcus Freeman era, BlueandGold.com is counting down the days to the matchup against Ohio State on Saturday.

This daily series of 99 stories celebrates by the numbers some of the most notable names, dates, moments and memories related to the past and present of Notre Dame football. 

Today, with only three days remaining until kickoff, we look at the epic NFL and Notre Dame careers of who else, Joe Montana. 

The pride of Pennsylvania wore the No. 3 jersey for Notre Dame from 1974-78 and remains a fixture on the Mount Rushmore of Fighting Irish Football greats. 

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Never short on confidence, “Joe Cool” forever loved playing football the most when his odds were the longest. 

And the odds couldn’t have been longer when this skinny, homesick kid arrived at Notre Dame from western Pennsylvania in the fall of 1974 and dropped to the bottom of a seven-man quarterback roster. 

Ah, but just when things seemingly couldn’t get worse, Montana’s rock bottom dropped again when head coach Ara Parseghian resigned that December.

Hanging around

With Parseghian gone, Montana wondered if he should go too. 

Through advice and encouragement from friends, teammates and family, Montana decided to stick it out. 

So with his decision made, a coaching transition complete, and Dan Devine the next man in, Montana as a sophomore in 1975 played his way to backup behind senior starter Rick Slager. 

Still an unknown commodity, Montana caught Devine’s eye coming off the bench that season, leading comeback wins against North Carolina and Air Force. 

Cruelly, any equity Montana built as a sophomore backup that year was lost in 1976 when a shoulder injury ended his junior season before it began.

Out of site and out of mind, Montana had to battle for backup duties as a redshirt senior in 1977 behind opening-day starter, junior Rusty Lisch.  

Trailing Purdue 24-14 in game three that season, Lisch got the hook, Montana got the call, and he delivered with 154 passing yards and 17 points in the final 11 minutes of the game for a 31-24 Irish victory. 

The late and legendary Notre Dame media relations director, Roger Valdiserri, described the scene against Purdue like this in a 2010 “Strong of Heart” story by Dan McGrath for UND.com. 

“The players were practically jumping up and down when Joe came in the game. They started slapping him on the back before he had taken a snap,” Valdiserri recalled. “I was sitting next to my Purdue counterpart, and he asked me what was going on. I said, ‘That’s Joe Montana, and you guys are in trouble.’”

Montana parlayed that rally against the Boilers into a starting spot, a 10-game winning streak, myriad memories, the 1977 national championship, and legendary status. 

That legend grows

Any story about Montana is incomplete without a mention of “The Chicken Soup Game” in the 1979 Cotton Bowl.

Flu-stricken and held back in the locker room after halftime, Montana got his body temperature back up, dramatically returned in the fourth quarter and turned a 34-12 deficit against Houston into an impossible 35-34 Irish win.

Fittingly, it was the final game of Montana’s college career. 

Respected but undersized, Montana lasted until the third round of the 1979 NFL Draft and became the fourth quarterback chosen when the San Francisco 49ers took him 82nd overall. 

Nimble, accurate, smart and savvy, Montana proved a perfect fit for the ball-control, dink-and-dunk passing game that 49ers head coach Bill Walsh was transforming NFL offenses with.

Montana won all four of his Super Bowl appearances, with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. 

And for his NFL career, Montana led 31 fourth-quarter comeback wins, including his epic 92-yard, last-minute TD drive in 1989 that secured a 20-16 win over the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII.

“I was a competitor. I hated to lose,” said Montana, the most renowned and revered quarterback in Notre Dame history. “And I think that drove my confidence and my concentration to where I played better in those situations.”

Years later, Montana deservedly dropped all humility to celebrate what made him great.   

“What I have is recognition, the ability to see everything on the field. Position the other team to death. Keep the ball alive and keep it moving forward. Then, at the right moment, knock them on their ass. Own the field.”

Enough said.