UNLV is fighting for the Irish

Tim Graham

Friday, June 27, 1997 | 11:17 a.m.

The UNLV football team aspires to become the Ghostbusters.

On one fall Saturday, the Rebels hope to play in front of Touchdown Jesus and battle the spirits of Knute Rockne, the Four Horsemen and George Gipp.

But this isn't some insane Jeff Horton delusion. The fourth-year head coach is attempting the boldest move in UNLV football history by landing Notre Dame on its 1999 schedule.

The Fighting Irish have an open date that season. With the help of a well-placed friend, the Rebels are being considered. The game would take place at Notre Dame Stadium either Sept. 25 or Oct. 2.

"If people say I'm crazy, then maybe I am," Horton said. "I'm a football coach, so that makes me half-crazy anyway."

Horton contends UNLV's chances of landing the legendary opponent are "about 50-50" and expects to get the official word around mid-July. If the game goes through, it would replace an already-scheduled game at North Texas.

"I'm not Catholic, but my wife, Teri, is," Horton said. "She's been saying a lot of Hail Marys to pull it off."

With Teri Horton pleading to a higher power, Las Vegas resident George Kunz is negotiating with Notre Dame assistant athletic director George Kelly.

Kunz was an All-American offensive tackle and captain at Notre Dame in 1968. He was the second overall pick -- behind O.J. Simpson -- in the 1969 NFL draft and was a multiple Pro Bowler during a 10-year career with the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Colts. Kunz now is a local McDonald's restaurant franchise owner.

"George (Kunz) had talked about it and said Notre Dame had an opening coming up," Horton said. "I've followed it up from there, but he's the one who got it all started. He's a legend back there."

Kelly was unavailable for comment Wednesday and Thursday. But it is apparent the air of electricity enveloping this potential matchup isn't the same in South Bend, Ind., as in Las Vegas.

"We do have an opening and we're working hard to fill it," Notre Dame sports information director John Heisler said. "It's not like this is the Kentucky Derby. We're just talking about scheduling football games. I guess it's not as big a deal from our standpoint."

If the game is scheduled, however, it would be one of the biggest in UNLV history. In its rich history, Notre Dame has eight national titles, seven Heisman Trophies, 29 consensus All-Americans and 36 former players and coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame, which is located in South Bend. All figures are unsurpassed.

"We need to get that credibility, not just from the outside world but from a lot of people right here in Las Vegas," Horton said.

The Notre Dame tradition "is something everybody grew up watching and hearing about. When you talk college football, it's the first school you mention.

"It would be a great opportunity for our program," Horton added. "To get where we need to, we have to play people like that. It says you've arrived on the scene."

Although the game wouldn't be played for two years, it is safe to assume UNLV wouldn't stand much chance of winning at Notre Dame. Bob Daluga of Las Vegas Sports Consultants Inc. makes the Irish "an eight or nine touchdown favorite" if the game went off this year.

But, according to Horton, a victory over Notre Dame isn't the prime objective in attaining the matchup.

"It's a win-win situation," he said. "If we win, it establishes us immediately. But even if we don't, we would be on national TV. And it's great for recruiting."

The Rebels already have some impressive nonconference opponents tentatively in place for upcoming seasons, including their ongoing Nevada-Reno series. They play at Southern Cal this year. In 1998, they visit Big Ten schools Northwestern and Wisconsin.

In addition to either Notre Dame or North Texas in 1999, UNLV will host Iowa State. In 2000, North Texas comes to Sam Boyd, while the Rebels travel to Iowa State.

To start the new millennium, UNLV welcomes Northwestern and goes to Arizona. Kansas has a home-and-home series with the Rebels in 2002-03 and Wisconsin has another in 2003-04.

UNLV also is working on a home-and-home deal with Mississippi to start in either 2000 or '01.

None of those contests, however, would possess the magnitude of Notre Dame.

"If it happens, great," Horton said. "If not ... well, we're just trying to pull those things off."