The last time the Irish traversed a decade and then some without winning a title was from 1949 to 1966, when Ara Parseghian won a national championship over Michigan State despite having tied the Spartans 10-10 in one of the greatest and most controversial games ever played. Both teams ended the season 9-1, but Notre Dame got the title. Parseghian won another, in 1973, and Dan Devine, his successor, won in 1977. Lou Holtz, who followed the floundering Gerry Faust, won in 1988. Since then, it’s been zero titles.

The Heisman drought is even longer; Tim Brown last won it for Notre Dame in 1987 and only Rocket Ismael, who finished second to Ty Detmer in 1990, has come close since.

No team or individual deserves anything simply because it exists. But the Irish are the New York Yankees of college football, the team you either love or hate but about which you are never neutral. They’ve won more championships than anyone and until last year, when USC tied them, had more Heisman trophies. When they contend for the championship, all of college football benefits from the increased attention given to the sport. When they stink, as they have with frightening regularity over the past 15 years, the sport loses something valuable.

One reason Notre Dame apologists give for the team’s struggles is the school’s lofty academic standards. The university is regularly among the top in the nation, along with Princeton and Stanford, at graduating its football players. Academically, it ranks among the top 20 or 25 institutions in the nation, including those that long ago gave up on top-level football.

The dearth of Heisman candidates is a pretty good indication of the overall drop in the team’s talent level. Once upon a time, when academic standards aren’t what they are now and Notre Dame was just another private university trying to make itself into something, the school practically owned the Heisman. It won four trophies in the 11 seasons from 1943-53 and added a fifth in 14 seasons in 1956. Since then, though, only John Huarte in 1964 and Brown in 1987 have won the hunk of bronze emblematic of the nation’s outstanding performer.

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Until Quinn came under the tutelage of Weis, it had been ages since the Irish even had a candidate. But, fresh off his success working with Tom Brady as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, Weis turned Quinn from a 50 percent passer into a 65 percent passer with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of nearly five to one.

I don’t believe in picking winners before a game has even been played. If it were up to me, there would be no Top 10 polls until at least three games were in the books. I’d do the same with Heisman candidates — let’s see what they have before we hand them the hardware.

But that’s not how it works. Quinn has the trophy now by acclaim based on what he did last year.

Is it hype? You bet it is. And it’s entirely possible he will win the trophy over someone who has better stats but didn’t have the benefit of the preseason hype. But that’s not his problem. By the rules of the game, all he has to do now is not screw up.