Brian Kelly named Tommy Rees his starting quarterback for the Champs Sports Bowl December 29th in Orlando against Florida State.

Andrew Hendrix will certainly play and will see an increased role in prepration for the game as Dayne Crist gets ready to transfer. Crist's role for the Champs Sports Bowl remains unknown.

Notre Dame and Florida State met in one of the great games ever in 1993 as the Irish defeated the Seminoles in a 1 vs 2 matchup. Of course, that was a long time ago for the current players.

"I've seen it on youtube," star wide receiver Michael Floyd says.

"I know nothing about that game," says captain and safety Harrison Smith.

Both teams are 8-4 and that's not the only similarity between the two. Like Notre Dame, Florida State had expectations of playing in a BCS Bowl game this season. It just never panned out. Like the Irish, the Seminoles have a talented defense that pose some major problems for the opposition.

The two teams played three common opponents in Maryland, Boston College and Wake Forest. While both dominated Maryland and BC, Florida State lost to Wake Forest while the Irish defeated the Demon Decons.

Florida State began the year at 2-0 and ranked in the top ten in the country before losses to Oklahoma, Clemson and Wake. They then won five games in a row before losing to Virginia. They closed out the season by beating Florida.

Notre Dame will be the home team for the game and will wear its blue jerseys with gold pants and gold helmets.

Tickets for the game are available. They're $67 each and can be ordered online at www.und.com/tickets or by calling the Notre Dame Ticket Office at 574-631-7356.

Kickoff will be at 5:30.