Notre Dame is not the kind of football program that inspires apathy in anyone. Swathed in tradition, the Fighting Irish are connected, often via bad feelings on one or both sides, to a number of other teams all around the college football landscape. They are the school simultaneously nestled at the center of the sport and most loudly criticized for what outsiders perceive as undeserved attention, influence, or respect. 

So what is it like to root for the school that sits at the intersection of history, Catholicism, and constant expectation? We talked to Jessica Smetana, Joshua Vowles, and Mike Golic Jr. to get a better sense of how Notre Dame fans feel about the value of independence, the school they hate losing to the most, and which negative stereotype of the Fighting Irish fanbase is the most accurate.