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Is the SI cover curse coming for Notre Dame?

Ain't being No. 1 grand, Notre Dame?

Media are swarming the campus, fan excitement is at a fever pitch, and Sports Illustrated puts you on the cover for the week.

Wait, that last part isn't so good.

The SI cover curse in not myth, ask Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein.

Klein was on the cover last week after the Wildcats moved to No. 1 in the BCS standings by virtue of Alabama's loss to Texas A&M.

[Related: Irish top BCS standings]

By the following Sunday, the Wildcats had been ousted from the No. 1 spot courtesy of a 52-24 loss to Baylor (a Baylor team whose only conference win was Kansas). The Wildcats dropped to No. 6 in the national standings with no hope of a BCS national championship berth and Klein slipped from the coveted top of the Heisman list.

But that's just a coincidence, right? No way that could be linked to the Sports Illustrated cover, right?

Uh huh.

[Dan Wetzel: Big Ten sacrifices quality for cash with expansion]

Just remember, it's been many moons since Notre Dame has garnered this much national attention, since the everyday lives of players and coaches include Tom Rinaldi following them around campus. That's a lot to deal with in a winner-take-all situation.

Notre Dame just has to beat USC in Los Angeles against the Trojans' freshman backup quarterback. The Trojans aren't even ranked. That shouldn't be difficult for the nation's No. 1 team.

Right.

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