When Notre Dame last marched into Beaver Stadium, the landscape of college football was a shadow of what it is today.
In 1991 there were no superconferences. Television coverage was limited at best, and "BCS" was just another abbreviation on the stock exchange.
Then, Joab Thomas, Penn State's president at the time, received a phone call from Stan Ikenberry, then-president of Illinois, inviting the Nittany Lions to join the Big Ten conference. They accepted.
The reverberations from Penn State's acceptance altered the college football world.
Soon after the Penn State move, Florida State joined the Atlantic Coast Conference and the once mighty Southwest Conference dissolved when half of its members joined the Big 12. Gone were the days of independent powers, save for one -- Notre Dame.
While joining the conference may have brought Penn State additional revenue from a television deal and a home for all of its athletic teams, the football team was no longer free to schedule its traditional matchups.
Teams such as West Virginia, Pitt and Notre Dame had become regulars on the Lions' slate, but with eight conference games each year, these rivals had to be dropped.
Notre Dame was one of the teams that went.
Before the split, the Lions-Irish clash was one of the most anticipated games of the year. They were two of the most popular programs in the country, with large alumni bases spread throughout the United States.
The games were ultra-competitive, with both teams ranked in the top 25 for six of the 12 meetings from 1980-1992. And twice, Penn State knocked the Irish from the No. 1 spot. The games were considered classic, but they came to an abrupt halt.
Hope for renewal of the series came around 1999, when there was talk of Notre Dame joining the Big Ten. The Notre Dame Faculty Senate approved the notion, but it was extremely unpopular with Irish alumni. Eventually, the school's board of trustees axed the idea.
Notre Dame Senior Associate Athletic Director and historian John Heisler said the thought of joining a conference was tempting, but the individuality of the school was a proud tradition to all who wore blue and gold.
"It was certainly looked into at a variety of different levels, with academics and all the other things that a conference affiliation can bring," Heisler said. "But the general reaction was that being an independent was a huge part of the university and people weren't anxious to lose that distinction."
Penn State went through many of the same discussions when it decided to join the Big Ten.
The decision was not based entirely on athletics. The Big Ten is one of the largest arenas for the exchange of information between universities.
Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said joining may not have been in the best interest of Lion football, but was unquestionably the best decision for the school.
"Is being a non-independent the best thing for Penn State? Yes. Would being a non-independent school be the best thing for Penn State football? I don't know," Paterno said. "When we got into the Big Ten it was a great thing for the university. Not only in the sense of athletic areas of men and women's sports, it also was a great thing for us academically.
"So I think you'd have to look at it in that light. If we had stayed independent would it have been better for Penn State football? I doubt it. I really doubt it, but I do know that for the whole program it was a good move."
But just because the two haven't met on the field for 15 years doesn't mean this Saturday is just another game.
Penn State historian Lou Prato said the 15 year layoff -- coupled with Penn State's blowout loss in South Bend, Ind. last year -- may have the Lion faithful even more excited for the Irish to invade Happy Valley.
"It's great for the fans," Prato said. "There's a lot of history between these two teams, and it's good to see them playing again."
Had the Irish joined the conference, the balance of power in college football could have been permanently tipped in the Big Ten's direction.
But by staying unaffiliated, Notre Dame retained the mystique that makes it such a big draw, while Paterno said Penn State is happy where it is in the Big Ten.
However, there are days when Paterno wishes he could still square off against the Irish on a yearly basis.
"I was disappointed when the Big Ten tried to get Notre Dame to come and they decided to turn it down," Paterno said.
"That's where I am. I always thought that would always be a good school for us to play. I like playing Notre Dame, I think it's fun."
