Are we there yet?

Like the 5-year-old incessantly making this inquiry every five minutes in the back seat of a car during a 200-mile journey, many a Notre Dame football follower has wistfully wondered this as well for the better part of the last 20-plus years.

“There” is returning to the upper echelon of the sport, where during a 75-year period from 1919 (9-0 and first NCAA recognized national title) through 1993 (11-1 and No. 2 finish despite defeating No. 1) Notre Dame had set the standard in the sport.

Several times during that span there were temporary pitfalls and setbacks, but each time the Fighting Irish returned “there.”

Throughout the 21st century in particular, there has been no there.