Huskies Remain Wary Of Struggling Notre Dame

With an ailing Lou Holtz unable to coach from the sidelines and a crushing loss to Ohio State still fresh, Notre Dame would seem unusually vulnerable.

But Washington football coach Jim Lambright knows better.

“I think anyone would be scared to death of facing Notre Dame at any time because of their people and because Lou (Holtz) does such a great job of putting answers together,” Lambright said of his team’s 12:30 p.m. opponent today at Husky Stadium.

“They start sliding a little bit, you know that (Holtz) is going to be in the office putting pressure where it needs to be,” Lambright said.

Notre Dame is favored against the No. 15 Huskies (2-0 Pac-10, 3-1 overall), but there’s no doubting the chinks in the armor of the once-mighty Fighting Irish.

The No. 23 Irish are 3-2 after a shocking 17-15 opening loss to Northwestern and then the surrender of 45 points to Ohio State last week in a game that included three Notre Dame fumbles converted into Buckeyes touchdowns.

Holtz said his doctors asked that he watch the game from the press box while his assistants take over sideline duties.

While the Huskies are preparing for Notre Dame’s punishing ground game, they will also have to keep their eyes on the Irish passing game, wide receiver Derrick Mayes in particular. Mayes has 29 receptions for 506 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 17.4 yards per catch.