Nostalgia comes in many forms at this time of year. For Brady Quinn, A.J. Hawk and Laura Hawk (nee Quinn), a New Year's Day bowl game is taking them back.
The matchup itself -- Ohio State and Notre Dame -- would have immediately conjured memories. Throw in the same bowl, the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl (different sponsor), and the date, exactly a decade after the teams' previous meeting, and Brady, A.J. and Laura see those images again.
Even the split jersey.
"We talk about the fact it's 10 years later, in regards to how funny that is and how different our lives are," said Quinn, Notre Dame's quarterback 2003-06. "We went into that game and it was my sister and a guy I knew was serious about dating my sister but nothing more than that. Ten years later, they have two kids with another one due any moment. I'm married, too.
"It's just an entirely different world to where we were a decade ago."
College football, arguably more than any other sport, provides historical markers. Thursday's game between No. 7 Ohio State and No. 8 Notre Dame qualifies, athletically and personally, for the Quinn and Hawk families. It also underscores how both programs have changed in the past decade.
Both have changed coaches (Ohio State did twice). The Buckeyes have played for three national titles, winning one, and the Irish reached the championship game three years ago. Both programs hit historic lows -- Notre Dame went 3-9 in 2007, its worst season since 1963; in 2011, Ohio State lost seven games for the first time since 1897 -- only to be revived by offensive-minded coaches. Both programs have experienced success and scandal, triumph and tragedy.
There are parallels to the last Buckeyes-Irish clash.
Ohio State is the talent-stocked team with a recent national championship and questions about its motivation. Notre Dame is enjoying a renaissance, led by an Ohio-bred quarterback (DeShone Kizer is from Toledo; Quinn grew up near Ohio State in Dublin). Both lost to teams (Clemson, Michigan State) now vying for a national title.
In 2005, then-Irish coach Charlie Weis was the subject of NFL rumors, including the New York Giants, a team some think might soon target current coach Brian Kelly.
There's no known family dating connections this time. The split jersey likely (hopefully?) won't make an appearance.
"Obviously, there's been a lot of change," Ohio State co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Luke Fickell said.
Fickell is one of few mainstays, holding the same position as he did a decade ago. But he also spent a season as Ohio State's coach and has been a top aide to Jim Tressel and to Urban Meyer. Like Quinn, he immediately thought of the 2006 game as soon as this year's Fiesta Bowl matchup was announced.
Two things still stand out to Fickell: the Quinn-Hawk pregame buzz and Weis, who was finishing his first season as Notre Dame's coach.
Weis, who returned to his alma mater after helping the New England Patriots to their third Super Bowl championship, bolstered Notre Dame's offense, which ranked eighth nationally in scoring and fourth in passing. After just seven games, Weis received a 10-year contract extension from Notre Dame (which is still paying its now ex-coach). Back then, Weis was a rising star in college coaching -- and not afraid to say so.
At a breakfast event both teams attended before the bowl, Weis made some comments that got the Buckeyes' attention.
"I just think it was his natural ability to be very confident and arrogant," Fickell said. "I remember him saying something about, 'Well, the Patriots would have won another Super Bowl if I wouldn't have gotten sick.' It was just the perfect little thing to warm up the guys."
Fickell and the other coaches had been concerned about their players' motivation. Ohio State was in its third Fiesta Bowl in four seasons. Some of the older players had won a national championship on the same field in 2003.
But Weis got their attention.
"We walked out, and I remember A.J. and a couple guys saying, 'I can't wait to play this now,'" Fickell said. "I was like, 'Ah, thank you.'"
Notre Dame needed no such fuel (not that Tressel would provide any). The Irish were thrilled to be in the desert after two seasons in college football's wilderness.
They had returned to national prominence that fall. They produced overnight stars such as Quinn, wide receiver Jeff Samardzija and safety/returner Tom Zbikowski. Even one of their losses -- a 34-31 setback against No. 1 USC, which prevailed thanks to the "Bush Push" -- enhanced their profile.
"Ohio State had had a number of years with success," said Quinn, who broke almost every single-season passing record in 2005 and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. "For us, it was trying to climb back into that national spotlight and scene, and get back to it. That was probably the best team we had while I played at Notre Dame."
Like Notre Dame, Ohio State lost to one of the national championship game participants, dropping a 25-22 decision to Texas. But the Fiesta Bowl still featured two top-5 teams, making it the best postseason matchup outside of USC-Texas.
"It would have been a semifinal game that year," Quinn said.
There was no shortage of star power in Phoenix, but two players, Quinn and Hawk -- and the link between them, Laura - dominated the days before kickoff. Laura Quinn went to Ohio State and had started dating Hawk a few months before the game. Although Brady and A.J. hadn't met until a family party weeks before the game, the Quinn-Hawk relationship made for fun fodder, especially when Laura interviewed her brother and her boyfriend at media day.
Then there was the infamous split jersey -- half Notre Dame, half Ohio State - that Laura wore on game day. Anyone who watched the game saw it, and her, a lot.
"She didn't realize how much she was going to be on television and receive, I don't know if it was negative, but people talking about her for how much they put her on TV, which she couldn't control," Brady said. "In retrospect, she probably wouldn't have given out her seat number. They would have had to find her."
Ohio State won the game 34-20, setting a Fiesta Bowl record for first downs (27) and racking up the third most yards (617) in bowl history.
Hawk twice sacked Quinn; Troy Smith got a jump start on his Heisman campaign (342 pass yards); and receivers Ted Ginn Jr. and Santonio Holmes combined for 191 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
"We got smoked, man," said Joe Schmidt, a current Notre Dame linebacker who attended the game. "Troy Smith was really good, Ted Ginn was really good."
Quinn disputes Schmidt's assessment. "It wasn't some sort of blowout," he said. Ohio State held a heavy statistical edge, but Notre Dame twice trailed by just a touchdown in the second half. A replay reversal of an Ohio State fumble in the third quarter nullified a chance for Notre Dame to tie the score.
"You reminisce about not just the game itself but all the great players," Fickell said. "We had five first-round draft picks for that [2006] draft class. And the following year, we went to the national championship game with a lot of young guys."
Most expected Notre Dame's rise to continue, as well, with Weis in place and recruiting booming. But after a Sugar Bowl appearance in Quinn's final season, things backslid quickly. Quinn's pro career followed a similar pattern, as injuries and inconsistency limited him to significant action in only two seasons. He now works as a college and NFL analyst for Fox Sports. Hawk, meanwhile, is finishing his 10th NFL season.
"That's life, man," Quinn said. "It's how it works out."
Just like Thursday's matchup.