WILLINGHAM HAS LOOK OF A WINNER AT NOTRE DAME.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

Joe Borchard has experienced Tyrone Willingham's glare more times than he cares to admit, so he has to laugh now when he hears Notre Dame players talk about the look their new coach gives them when they've done something to raise his ire.

Borchard, a rookie center fielder with the Chicago White Sox, played quarterback for Willingham at Stanford from 1998 to 2000. The former Camarillo High football and baseball star keeps up with his former coach and takes a special satisfaction from the magic he's working in South Bend.

Notre Dame, a 5-6 team a year ago under Bob Davie, is 10-1 going into Saturday's showdown with USC (9-2) at the Coliseum. With the 10 victories, Willingham became the winningest first-year coach in Notre Dame history.

Borchard, who is playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, expected nothing less when Willingham left Stanford after last season for South Bend.

``I'm not the least bit surprised,'' Borchard said. ``What I learned, and what the Notre Dame players are finding out, is that it's a privilege to play for Coach Willingham, a special experience. The guy has so many great qualities as a human being and a coach. He'll leave his mark at Notre Dame just like he did at Stanford. I mean, he took us to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 30 years. That says a lot.''

And about the Willingham glare, that stern look he flashes at players, Borchard grew accustomed to it over the years.

``As a two-sport athlete and a full-time student, there were times when my schedule got pretty hectic because I had so many different obligations,'' Borchard said. ``And every once in a while I'd go into Coach Willingham's office to talk to him about it, sort of tell him I was getting pulled in different directions and there was only so much I could do.''

Then Borchard would look up at Willingham.

``Coach would be sitting there sort of shaking his head, giving me that look,'' Borchard said, laughing. ``It was if he was saying `Joe, you can handle it. You're more capable than you think.'

``And you know, when you look back on it, he was right. Sometimes we're capable of doing a lot more than we think we can, we just need someone there to remind us of that. Coach Willingham was definitely the guy to remind me of that.''

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Notre Dame defensive end Ryan Roberts wasn't quite sure what to expect when he first met with Willingham. Roberts, like most of the Fighting Irish, was confused and disillusioned after months of controversy that stripped fabled Notre Dame of some of its luster.

The Irish were coming off an embarrassing 5-6 year, their second losing season in three years. They then suffered through the indignity of Davie, the coach that recruited them, getting fired, followed by the bungled hiring of Georgia Tech's George O'Leary, who lasted all of five days before resigning when it was revealed he had lied on his resume.

Now came Willingham, who originally was passed over for the job when Notre Dame hired O'Leary.

Roberts wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to hear from Willingham. But he wanted to hear something positive.

``The first thing he talked about - the only thing he talked about - was winning,'' Roberts said. ``He didn't mention the problems with the coaching search, he didn't put any blame anywhere, he didn't talk about the failures of the past. All he said is `We're going to win.'

``I knew right then that things were going to be fine.''

But this fine? Nobody, not even the most optimistic Notre Dame fan or player, could have expected this. The Irish, ranked seventh nationally, will likely land a spot in the Bowl Championship Series lineup no matter what they do against USC on Saturday.

The Irish aren't flashy, just efficient, winning games with a nationally ranked defense, terrific special-teams play and an offense that avoids turnovers.

If it's possible for a Notre Dame team to quietly go about the business of winning and returning to national prominence, this one is it, and much like the stoic, reserved Willingham, they've done it by putting substance over style.

``It's not just a change in attitude about football around here. It's a change in attitude about life,'' Roberts said. ``That's what he's done around here.''

Willingham, a 5-foot-7, 160-pound former walk-on quarterback at Michigan State, deflects most of the credit, but the effect he's had can't be understated.

Unlike Davie, who sometimes bemoaned Notre Dame's stringent academic restrictions and the strain it put on recruiting, Willingham insisted from the beginning that winning the national championship was within Notre Dame's reach.

He was 44-36-1 at Stanford, where academic standards are even tougher than at Notre Dame.

``I think it's understood that the expectation at Notre Dame is to be absolutely the best,'' Willingham said. ``And that is what I've always expected of myself. No expectations from the outside will exceed my own.''

Willingham immediately dismissed Notre Dame's recent problems as ancient history, challenging the Fighting Irish to follow his lead and focus ahead.

The goal, from the beginning, was to find an excuse to win, not lose.

Under Davie, the sense was that the other shoe was about to drop at any moment, as if disappointment continually lurked around the corner.

``The talent was always here,'' Roberts said. ``But it wasn't working out for us. When they decided to change coaches, my feeling was that if everyone thinks it's the best thing, then I'm all for it. All I wanted to do was win.''

Under Willingham, Notre Dame finds ways to win, pulling out a last-second victory over Michigan State when backup quarterback Pat Dilingham, a walk-on, replaced injured starter Carlyle Holiday and threw a long touchdown to Arnez Battle in the closing seconds.

The Irish have won games when their defense scored more points than their offense, and altered the outcome of games with long touchdowns on interception returns and punt returns.

From the outset, it was as if Notre Dame expected to win, rather than lose as it had under Davie.

``The biggest change he made was in attitude,'' Notre Dame linebacker Brandon Hoyte said. ``Everything we do is geared toward winning. We practice with intensity and we play with intensity. It's a different mindset now.''

THE WILLINGHAM FILE

Born: Dec. 30, 1953, in Kinston, N.C.

Education: Bachelor's degree, Michigan State (physical education).

Family: Wife, Kim; children, Nathaniel, Cassidy, Kelsey.

Playing career Three-year letterman in both football and baseball as walk-on; most inspirational player in football, 1976; all-Big Ten Conference in baseball, 1977.

College coaching career: Graduate assistant, Michigan State, 1977; secondary coach, Central Michigan, 1978-79; secondary/special-teams coach, Michigan State, 1980-1982; secondary/special teams, North Carolina State, 1983-1985; receivers/special teams, Rice, 1986-88; running-backs coach, Stanford, 1989-91; head coach, Stanford, 1995-2001; head coach, Notre Dame, 2002.

Professional coaching career: Running backs coach, Minnesota Vikings, 1992-94.

--Career highlights: Liberty Bowl, 1995; Sun Bowl, 1996; Rose Bowl, 1999; Seattle Bowl, 2001.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 1 box

Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham in action)

(2) no caption (Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham, closeup of face)

Box:

THE WILLINGHAM FILE (see text)