Notre Dame should never have become Notre Dame. The small Catholic university in Indiana roamed the country playing an eclectic group of opponents and recruiting from the archipelago of Catholic high schools dotting the nation. But these idiosyncratic features, along with several national titles, actually made the Fighting Irish, in the postwar years, the most popular (and polarizing) college football team in America.

Notre Dame’s closest rival as a program with a recognizable and broadly appealing ethos might be its neighbor to the northeast, Michigan. The Wolverines have long been front-runners: Their stadium holds the most fans; their coach makes the loudest splash; as befitting their fight song, “The Victors,” they have won the most games in major college football history.

It is fitting, then, that Notre Dame and Michigan enjoy one of college football’s more celebrated rivalries. It will be renewed in Saturday’s season opener in South Bend, Ind., following an unusual four-year hiatus, as the No. 12 Irish host the No. 14 Wolverines.

Michigan leads the series, 24-17-1. Eliminate the first several games — played when Michigan’s program was far more put together than Notre Dame’s — and the record is about even.