CHICAGO — In just over five weeks, the Michigan football team will take the field in South Bend, renewing the Wolverines’ storied rivalry against Notre Dame.

And though there’s plenty Michigan wants to accomplish between now and then — deciding upon five new starters, for example — the excitement of the game crept into Michigan’s minds while at the 2018 Big Ten Media Days in Chicago.

“Excited about it,” Harbaugh said of the rivalry. “I had a chance to watch the game as a kid in person, I had a chance to play in the game twice and watched it once from the sidelines as a player and coached against Notre Dame (at Stanford).

“It’s so close, it’s only two and a half hours away, two great midwestern teams, I’m excited about it.”

Indeed, Harbaugh is 4-3 all time against the Fighting Irish. He saw Notre Dame win during his redshirt 1982 season before rattling off back-to-back wins in 1985 and 1986, then lost two games to the Fighting Irish as Stanford’s coach before winning in 2009 and 2010.

It’s a rivalry Harbaugh appreciated enough to work with Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly to renew back when the home-and-home series was scheduled in 2016, and one Michigan’s head coach is eager to become a part of again.

“Both teams were willing to make it happen, so it happened,” Harbaugh said of how the series was scheduled again after being discontinued in 2014, noting scheduling obstacles were a much bigger factor than bad blood in rescheduling the series. “They’ll be a formidable opponent, excellent team, I know (Kelly) to be a really good coach. You see on tape that they’re a very good football team, they’ve got many, many good football players returning.”

Later in the day, Harbaugh’s players echoed their coach in saying that the game carries more significance than a typical season-opener. Though no one on the team played in the Wolverines’ 31-0 loss to Notre Dame in 2014, everyone saw the Fighting Irish go 10-3 last season, and have certainly seen both teams take turns in college football’s spotlight for years.

“It brings a lot of juice,” said safety Tyree Kinnel. “Obviously we want to win the opener and start the season off really well. But knowing it’s Notre Dame, knowing it’s a rivalry that we have never been a part of, we want to go beat them. It’s in South Bend and it’s a great way to start a season and go beat them.”

Added running back Karan Higdon: “I’m looking forward to the victory, that’s the only thing I can look forward to because that’s going to propel us to the next week, and that’s going to mean we are one step close to achieving our overall goal, which is a National Championship.”

While any sort of national championship talk is premature, Harbaugh did note that facing a likely top-15 team early in the season does allow the team to train with more intensity and reality than a low-major team.

It also forces Michigan’s players to cool their heels ahead of a pivotal fall camp. The Fighting Irish appear good enough to dream seriously about the College Football Playoff, too, which means one team’s dreams are taking a major hit in South Bend Sept. 1. So instead of worrying about it, defensive end Chase Winovich said that he’s worried about getting better first, starting with the team’s first practice August 3.

“The same way you eat an elephant,” Winovich quipped. “One bite at a time."