What Temple learned from Notre Dame game 2 years ago

Matt Rhule waited all his professional life to guide a college football program and when he was finally named the head coach of Temple, his first assignment couldn't have been more challenging.

That would be opening the 2013 season in South Bend, Ind., against before a sold-out crowd of 80,795 at Notre Dame Stadium.

On Saturday, in the eighth game of his third season, Rhule will again face Notre Dame, but this time under totally different circumstances.

During Rhule's first year, Temple would finish 2-10, a season that began with a 28-6 loss to the Fighting Irish.

Now the Owls are already bowl eligible, which has put them in the national spotlights and ratings.

Temple is 7-0 for the first time in school history, and ranked No. 21. Notre Dame is 6-1 and ranked No. 9. Saturday's 8 p.m. game at Lincoln Financial Field is sold out and will be televised nationally on ABC.

It shows in a few short seasons how far Temple's program has traveled.

Temple has a few players, mainly on the defensive side, who played in that game at Notre Dame.

"You hear about the history of the stadium and to have the opportunity to play there was awesome," said Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who led the Owls in tackles that game with 11.

That opening game gave Temple a firsthand look at the mystique of the Fighting Irish.

"It was pretty exciting going out to that big stage against them," said Temple defensive lineman Nate D. Smith, who had eight tackles that game. "At first, it was a little shocking, we had to calm down as a team and then we finally got under control and then went out and played."

Temple trailed, 14-6, late in the first half, and that was after missing field goals of 32 and 43 yards and botching an extra point.

Notre Dame finally got some breathing room when the Irish connected on a 66-yard scoring pass with 43 seconds left in the first half to assume control with a 21-6 halftime lead.

"Of the first six games [in 2013], that was our best game," Rhule recalled. "It was like the players were in the moment and excited and there was no pressure."

This situation is different. Pressure exists for Temple, regardless of the fact that Notre Dame is a 10-point favorite. It's simply because the expectations for Temple are on a far different scale than in the 2013 season.

Temple senior defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis said the previous Notre Dame game served as a learning experience, and the lessons have benefited the current Owls' squad.

"I remember the minor details and the defense breaking down and that is something that we definitely got fixed," said Ioannidis, who had three tackles and Temple's lone sack. "So now I think this is going to be a hard-fought game defensively on both sides of the ball I am sure."

Matakevich feels the Owls will greatly benefit from that previous game with Notre Dame.

"I don't think we knew what we were getting ourselves into, and now we understand the type of game it is," he said.

Despite the loss in 2013, Temple came out feeling pretty good about itself. Now, more than two years later, the Owls are a much more self-assured team, drastically different than the one that played so hard but still fell short at Notre Dame.

"We know what have to do now," Smith said. "We have to play Temple football."

And unlike the last time the Owls met Notre Dame, "Temple football" has an entirely different meaning.

mnarducci@phillynews.com

@sjnard