[TomWilkinson]

Charlie Weis has done great things in his first season at Notre Dame, but he wants one more, a bowl win. #5 Notre Dame is looking for its first bowl victory in 12 years, and Weis aims to deliver.

"We know it's going to be a tough test, but I can tell you this: We didn't come here just to drink margaritas," Weis said. "We came here to play a football game, and it's been well-documented that Notre Dame hasn't won a bowl game in over a decade, and we're hoping to change that."

Weis guided Notre Dame to a 9-2 record in his first year as a college head coach. Before this season, the Irish had one winning record in four seasons. Notre Dame's last bowl win came in the Cotton Bowl, a 24-21 victory over Texas A&M on Jan. 1, 1994.

"Charlie is head and shoulders above lots of people in this industry, and we're very proud to have him as our football coach," Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White said.
This will be the last Fiesta Bowl in Sun Devil Stadium before it moves into the new Arizona Cardinals stadium in suburban Glendale.

Weis, who was New England's offensive coordinator, led the highest-scoring team in modern school history (38.2 points a game) and missed an unbeaten season by a total of six points. He knows that all the time off can be a good thing or a bad thing for the players.
"A lot of coaches in the past would use all those practice days to bang their players around the whole time, and then you can get them banged-up, too," Weis said. "So, really, you have two philosophies to take into account.

"One, to make sure that they don't get mentally stale, so that they're ready to go at their peak mentally, and the other is to make sure they're flying around by kickoff and that you don't wear them out before the game starts."