55 years!
That’s how long the Oklahoma Sooners have been waiting to beat Notre Dame on the football field.
Now, this football rivalry is heating up more than both teams can imagine.
Notre Dame is ranked number 5, and Oklahoma is close behind at number 8.
The city of Norman is really hoping Sooner fans will welcome Irish fans with southern hospitality.
The University of Oklahoma president sent a letter to students urging them to welcome Notre Dame fans with respect, saying when he was here years back, he received a warm Notre Dame welcome, and if you ask most rival fans, when they come to this stadium, without a doubt, it's a friendly rivalry. After all, it's just a game, right?
But some Irish fans are prepping for what could be a matchup like no other in Sooner country.
It’s gonna be nuts in that atmosphere in Norman, Oklahoma,” said Notre Dame sophomore Troy Suter.
Get ready for football in the south.
“They’ll be friendly till it gets to football, and then it will be serious,” expects Irish fan Gilbert Rimel from Missouri.
“We have 12 guys packed into an RV,” said Irish sophomore Will Peterson.
The Oklahoma Sooners are holding a 55-year grudge. In 1957, the Irish broke OU’s 47-game winning streak, winning that game, 7-0.
For the Sooners, it could be payback time.
"I think most of the fighting will be done on the football field,” Peterson said.
But the University of Oklahoma itself is questioning whether or not fans in Norman will keep their cool when it comes to the Fighting Irish. In a letter to students, school President David Boren says:
"In 1999, the last time we played Notre Dame, several of us made the trip to South Bend for the game. We have never experienced greater hospitality when visiting another campus. ...We now have a chance to show our visitors from Notre Dame the same kind of warm hospitality in return."
Berry Tramel is a columnist for the “Daily Oklahoman.” He’s covered the Sooners for several years and spoke with WSBT Sportsbeat on Wednesday.
“I don’t think OU has a reputation good or bad for the way it treats visiting fans,” said Tramel. “I don’t think they treat them poorly, but not great either.”
Notre Dame students traveling to Sooner country are ready for the matchup, but are they expecting to see some southern hospitality?
“Notre Dame is known as being a classy institution, and I think they’ll wanna be like that to us, so I think they’ll show us a good time,” said Peterson.
Students say the letter is a gesture of good will, but win or lose, Notre Dame always comes out on top.
“People can say what they want, but at the end of the day, we’re still the Irish, proud of who we are and proud of our team, always,” said Notre Dame freshman Maggie Bowers.
