The Notre Dame series that changed everything for this BYU receiver

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For a BYU football player, playing against Notre Dame is a rarity.

The two programs will meet Saturday (5:30 p.m. MDT, ABC) for just the 10th time since the Cougars fielded their first team in 1922. Of the nine previous meetings, Tim Nowatzke played in three of them.

Who is Nowatzke?

He was a Catholic kid from Michigan City, Indiana, who grew up dreaming of playing for the Irish. His stellar high school career caught the attention of programs as far away as BYU, but nothing from nearby Notre Dame.

“I had been to one (spring practice) game, but we watched every (Notre Dame) game every year,” Nowatzke told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “I wanted to go to Notre Dame, but other people had other plans.”

One of those plans had Nowatzke taking a recruiting trip to BYU in 1990. He had only heard of the Cougars because he loved the Chicago Bears — and his favorite Bears quarterback was Jim McMahon.

BYU made a good enough impression to land him. As fate would have it, during Nowatzke’s sophomore, junior and senior seasons, Notre Dame was on the schedule, beginning in 1992 in South Bend — just 35 miles from his home.

Oct. 24, 1992

“This game meant everything to me, playing against the team I wanted to play for in their stadium,” he said. “I had never seen a live game (there), now I’m going to play in one?”

As the 6-foot-2, 200-pound receiver began his early-week preparations, his mom, Marcia, called with some bad news. Nowatzke’s beloved grandfather had passed away.

“Typically, we travel on Fridays but for that game LaVell (Edwards) had us go back on Thursday to take in the sights,” Nowatzke said. While his teammates explored South Bend, the somber sophomore “went to my grandpa’s funeral.”

That night was a long one.

“I remember literally crying myself to sleep before the biggest game of my life and thinking I was going to be playing on national television on NBC and I didn’t really care, but I cared because I wanted to perform for my grandpa and my family,” he said. “I had a peace fall upon me. I had a great experience with prayer. It was very strong and powerful. I was able to play.”

With 125 family members sitting among the crowd of 59,075, Nowatzke caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Hancock in the third quarter to pull BYU to 21-16.

“I got tackled by Tyler Anderson and Byron Rex. It was kind of a tradition Ty Detmer started, pummeling the guy who scored the touchdown,” he said. “I go to the sideline having this huge weight taken off my back because I wanted to perform. I wanted to compete, but I felt a heaviness.”

Nowatzke turned around to the television camera behind the BYU bench and offered an emotional, “Hi, Grandma!” to his No. 1 fan who, was watching from home.

Tenth-ranked Notre Dame pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 42-16 win.

Oct. 16, 1993

One year later, the No. 3 Irish came to Nowatzke’s new home in Provo where 70 years earlier, Notre Dame’s legendary Knute Rockne attended a coaching seminar to help the one-year-old BYU program find its footing.

“That wasn’t as big (as South Bend),” Nowatzke said. “I don’t remember that game as well.”

Notre Dame’s 45-20 dominance made it easy to forget. Nowatzke caught three passes for 13 yards and had one carry for 9 yards in the loss.

Oct. 15, 1994

Nowatzke’s Notre Dame trilogy took a positive turn as a senior when BYU returned to the Hoosier State and stunned the Irish 21-14. He caught three passes for 24 yards. Senior star Jamal Willis ran in the game-winning touchdown behind the blocking of his freshman fullback, Kalani Sitake.

“We were locked in. You could feel it that week. We weren’t enamored. We weren’t intimidated,” Nowatzke said. “It was a dream come true. I remember walking off with my friends and teammates (and) celebrated with my family. Leaving there, it was unreal.”

Saturday, 2026

The No. 2 Irish (6-0) return to Provo on Saturday to face No. 8 BYU (5-0) in the first top-10 showdown ever at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

“I think hands down, it’s without a doubt the biggest game in the history of the (BYU) program,” Nowatzke said. “The first game that came to mind was BYU-Miami (1990) and the national championship game (1984) and the Cotton Bowl (1996) — those were all big games, but this weekend, two verses eight with CFP rankings on the line, I think without a doubt, this is our biggest game.”

Game changing

Nowatzke’s three-year run against Notre Dame also encompassed the timeline of his conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was on the emotional 1992 visit to South Bend where “I learned how to pray and talk to my Father in Heaven. It was powerful.”

By the 1993 game, Nowatzke had fully investigated the church and was baptized by Anderson. He played the 1994 game while waiting for his future wife, Heidi Heaps, to return from her mission. They were married the following summer.

“What started out as a football dream has changed my life and I’ve been very blessed,” said Nowatzke who, in hindsight, owes everything to the Irish for not recruiting him. The initial bitter pill turned into a sweet life.

Nowatzke may have grown up a Notre Dame fan in Michigan City, but he is growing old as a Cougar with his family in St. George, Utah — 1,400 miles away from where it all began.

Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.

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