SOUTH BEND - They will lug their own goalpost pads 1,303 miles this week to San Antonio, presumably, though, not to have the actual goalposts torn down in a wild celebration over yet another last-minute victory.

The 25th-ranked Notre Dame football team (5-2) is, after all, a 29-point favorite on Halloween night over Washington State (1-6) - the sixth-widest betting line in all of major college football this week.

Other touches of home will include Notre Dame Stadium P.A. announcer Mike Collins handling those chores at the Alamodome, Sgt. Tim McCarthy’s voice (not live, but via Memorex or the digital equivalent) delivering one of his lovable/cornball drive-home-safely speeches, and a Friday night pep rally with Texas native, and ND’s most-recent Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Brown serving as the headliner. ...

And recruiting. Sort of.

“We appealed to the NCAA to try to get it like a true home game,” Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis said. “And the concession is we can have recruits go to the game, we can give recruits tickets to the game, but we can’t talk to them.”

Being seen, and not heard, may be enough.

“As long as the kids understand things, this could still be a really important recruiting link for Notre Dame,” CBS college sports recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said. “Austin’s one hour away, Houston’s three, Dallas is four. All those places are loaded with talent. San Antonio is just the perfect location to make a statement in Texas.

“And Notre Dame needs to make a statement in Texas.”

There are just three scholarship Texans on ND’s current roster - senior offensive tackle Chris Stewart (Houston), sophomore defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore (Weatherford) and freshman kicker Nick Tausch (Plano). That compares with 12 in Bob Davie’s final season as Irish head coach (2001), most of any state in the country on the ND roster at the time.

Lemming said the Irish likely won’t land a Texan in its current recruiting cycle, either.

“It’s important for Notre Dame to have a presence in Texas,” he said. “They’ve got a really good one in California. They’re getting more of one in Florida. If you can get a foothold in the three most-talent-rich states - California, Texas and Florida - that’s what you want.”

It was former Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White’s vision that opening up recruiting arteries in talent-heavy areas be part of the equation in the new-concept off-site home games of which Saturday’s San Antonio experience is the first.

Current athletic director Jack Swarbrick looks at it more as a back-burner benefit, if that.

It’s clear, though, that Weis sees it as an opportunity, which is why his invitation list is loaded up with juniors.

At the top of the list is the perhaps the best running back in the country in the high school junior class who just happens to be from San Antonio (Madison High).

Aaron Glenn, a 5-11, 186-pound running back with 4.37 speed in the 40-yard dash, is the top prospect in Texas and one of the top 30 players nationally overall per Lemming. ND’s last catch from San Antonio was quarterback/wide receiver Carlyle Holiday 10 recruiting cycles ago.

Other top Texas prospects who the ND coaches would likely love to see show up Saturday night at the Alamodome include: