The year is 2024. Maybe it's actually 2024, as you're listening to this. Maybe it's much later.

I don't know your podcast listening schedule. But let's pretend it's 2012. 9-1 Notre Dame is ranked 6 in the country.

9-0 Army is ranked 18th. And Notre Dame and

Army are playing a game in late November in New York with real national title implications.

What's the score of this game? Who knows? This podcast may be from the future, depending on when you're listening to it.

Maybe you know the score when you listen to this. Maybe you don't. Doesn't matter. The point is that Army and Notre Dame are playing a game

with real national championship implications. This is abnormal, but it didn't used to be abnormal.

Army and Notre Dame are playing at all, and that's a bit abnormal. But that also didn't used to be a weird thing.

Why is a huge Notre Dame Army game like this,

such an anomaly in so many ways,

both because it's big and because it's a game being played at all?

Well, for a few reasons.

But to understand them, we've got to go back 100 years to 1924 and then jump about

a quarter of a century ahead, and then all will become clear. It's Notre Dame. It's Army. It's a thing

that used to be a big deal. Then wasn't. Now is again. Why? Stephen Godfrey, Richard Johnson, any guesses?

Well, Alex, the last time that Army and Notre Dame were playing this nationally relevant

level of football this deep into a season, America was at war with Nazis.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

I just hacked it, didn't I?

This might be what it takes.

These two teams were both pretty good early on in the 20th century.

...