So what do you do when you're the face of your school, but you grew up in a family that eats, sleeps, and breathes your school's opponent? That's the dilemma facing this year's leprechaun at Notre Dame. The young man grew up in a family of Boilermakers, but that didn't stop him from following his Irish heart.

If Notre Dame is a place where dreams come true, it's also a place where dreams are crushed.

This year, David Zimmer may be the Notre Dame leprechaun, but when he first applied to the school, he got denied, so David had to settle for his second choice.

"I went to Purdue for one year, my freshman year, and I wrestled on the team and I actually enjoyed it very much, but in the back of my mind I always knew it didn't hold a candle to Notre Dame,” he says.

David grew up in a Purdue family—both his parents went to Purdue. His grandfather was the lonely Notre Dame fan who convinced David that he needed to head to South Bend.

"He grew up loving football, and when you grow up loving football in Indiana, then you definitely love Notre Dame,” says David.

After a year at Purdue, David reapplied.

"I applied, waited, and come the spring I got my acceptance letter to the University of Notre Dame,” he says.

David’s very first phone call was to grandpa.

"He didn't say anything actually, just one tear roll down his cheek. It was something very special to me to see that. It kind of made both of our dreams come true,” he says.

Not only did David achieve his dream of being a student at Notre Dame, he became the image most associated with the Irish—the leprechaun.

“I've been inside that stadium and I know what it's like when 80,000 plus are rocking the roof off of that house and I can not wait to be standing there in front of the team holding the flag ready to take our brand new team, our new coach, everybody's brand new hopes out onto that field for this new football season,” says David.

But as changing seasons go, it's also a time for goodbyes. The Irish have one fewer fan this year. David's grandpa passed away last Friday.

"He's been suffering for awhile, and I know he's in a better place and he definitely wouldn't have been able to watch the Notre Dame game from his hospital bed and so I'm positive that come Saturday, he'll be right up there watching the game and watching me,” says David.

This has been a tough week for David. He and his family buried his grandfather on Thursday, and now he's back on campus for the big game.

He said if he could see one Irish victory, it would be today for his grandpa.