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BOSTON — At a place like Notre Dame, there is institutional memory, and there are memories that provoke institutionalization.
So stop us if you've heard this one before: Boston College, ruining perfect seasons for Notre …
OK, yup, we'll stop.
"I remember watching it as a kid, the (2002) upset, but it's a new team, new players, and we're going to get things done," Irish center Braxston Cave said.
"I've had a few people bring it up on Twitter, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all."
It doesn't, not in the least, and any hand-wringing or jaw-clenching is certainly out of proportion with the circumstances Saturday: No. 4 Notre Dame, cruising along at 9-0, needing to dispatch Boston College, languishing at 2-7 with a coach in danger of unemployment, to keep BCS title game hopes alive.
Yes, Boston College defeated undefeated Notre Dame teams in 1993 and 2002 to upend those seasons. And, yes, this is news to the vast majority of players on the current Irish roster.
"Aw, I don't know what happened in '02 and '93," linebacker Manti Te'o said. "That doesn't really matter to me. What matters to me is what happens in 2012."
If there is a phenomenon related to these games that applies to the current lot of players, it's everyone else doling out free, unprompted history lessons. (Example: the ones who prompted the comments for this story.) In theory, that could spark apprehension where there is none.
In theory. In reality, at least with this group, it doesn't seem to register. Asked how he responds when people dredge up defeats like these, linebacker Dan Fox said: "I'll just be like, 'That was unfortunate, but I don't really care.'"
Boston College vintage '93 and '02 also turned out to be nine-win outfits, where this current lot may post a mirror-image of that final record. The Eagles seem to have many more pressing issues than ruining another Irish fall.
Still, while embattled coach Frank Spaziani declined to say specifically he would try to use past as prologue for his team, he didn't exactly deny it.
"We use everything we possibly can for motivation," Spaziani said. "Of course there are the obvious things, but we still have a lot to play for."
Not anything close to what Notre Dame has at hand. And given the respective performance and disparities of these teams this year, it would seem the Irish have a much better chance of continuing to make history than of reliving it.
"For us, it goes back to having the mindset of a champion," Te'o said. "It doesn't matter who you line up against, what record they have, what color they're wearing — it's football. If you want to win, you have to do what winners do, and find any way to win."
bchamilton@tribune.com
Twitter @ChiTribHamilton