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Notre Dame limps into Hawaii looking to end postseason skid

Dec 24, 2008 - 4:36 PM Notre Dame (6-6) vs. Hawaii (7-6), December 24, 8:00 pm EST

HONOLULU (Ticker) -- Charlie Weis recently secured his job at Notre Dame for at least one more season.

The embattled coach can build up even more good will in South Bend if the Fighting Irish find a way to end the longest postseason skid in NCAA history.

Notre Dame will look to win its first bowl game in nearly 15 years when it takes on Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve.

Coming off a nightmarish 2007 season in which he coached the Fighting Irish to the a 3-9 record, the worst in the storied program's history, Weis guided Notre Dame (6-6) to wins in five of its first seven games this year.

But Weis once again came under fire in South Bend following four losses in the final five games, including an embarrassing loss to lowly Syracuse in the home finale and a blowout defeat at Southern California to end the season.

Following the loss to USC, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced that the maligned Weis still would return to coach the Fighting Irish in 2009.

"Last year, we were a crummy team that very often was non-competitive," Weis said. "This year, I thought we were a decent football team that blew three double-digit leads in games. ... The difference between 6-6 and 9-3 is blowing three double-digit leads."

Weis, who guided the Irish to BCS bowls in his first two years at the helm, now will attempt to end Notre Dame's NCAA-record nine-game losing streak in bowl games.

Notre Dame has not won in the postseason since beating Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl following the 1993 season.

However, a victory over the Warriors (7-6) would constitute a small bit of redemption for a Notre Dame team that has piled up 15 losses over the last two seasons, the highest two-year total in school history.

"It's the final shot that I have to leave my mark," senior safety David Bruton said. "I care a lot about the guys, and I want to prepare them and springboard them into a positive start for the next season."

The second half of this season certainly has acted as a springboard for Hawaii, who bounced back from a 1-3 start to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference and claim its sixth bowl berth in the last eight years.

The Warriors played in last season's Sugar Bowl under then-head coach June Jones and record-setting quarterback Colt Brennan.

Despite playing under a new coach - Greg McMackin - and a slew of new starting quarterbacks, Hawaii won three of its last four conference games before defeating lowly Washington State and suffering a tough loss to Cincinnati in the season finale.

The Warriors own a 3-1 all-time record in the Hawaii Bowl, including a 41-24 romp of Arizona State in 2006.