Go ahead and mark October 26, 2019 on the calendar. Do it now. That's when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish travel to the Big House to play the Michigan Wolverines, and it's going to be even more hostile than before after what head coach Brian Kelly just said.
Kelly, The Associated Press Coach of the Year after leading the Irish to the College Football Playoff last season, has said some interesting things in the past, but his latest jab at the Wolverines was colder than the Compton Family Ice Arena he appeared at Tuesday night in South Bend, Indiana.
After the second period of Notre Dame's 5-2 victory over Michigan in men's hockey — a game that saw Pierce Crawford and Jake Pivonka score their first career goals for the No. 15 Irish — Kelly appeared on the video board and decided to troll the Wolverines hard.
RELATED: South Bend Temporarily Renames Michigan Street Ahead of Rivalry Game
With the Irish up 2-0, Kelly decided to jump from the top rope to slam Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines by saying, "Just like in football... halfway through the game, Michigan hasn't scored."
Ouch. And if that wasn't enough, he said Michigan "should stick to football."
A little trash talk never hurt anyone, but it probably got the roughly 4,000 fans at the NCAA hockey game all sorts of fired up.
To be fair to Michigan here, the Wolverines scored 10 points by halftime of last year's season-opener, but lost 24-17 at Notre Dame Stadium. They also have the all-time series lead in football.
And to be fair to Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish have won the last two meetings on the gridiron.
There's no doubt this famous college football rivalry heated up for the 2019 season and that game in Ann Arbor, Michigan will definitely be one to watch out for.
