SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The world's most-famous college football program had turned its back on its storied past.

In the days when it was becoming the world's most-famous college football program, the head coach at Notre Dame was always a Notre Dame man.

The tradition that started with Knute Rockne ended in the early 1960s, but it has been renewed.

Fittingly, Charlie Weis looks as if he just stepped out of a time capsule from the early 1960s.

Heck, with that flattop haircut, Weis could have sprung to life from the team picture of coach Frank Leahy's 1949 national champions.

Weis, class of '78, was named head coach at his alma mater last December. The 49-year-old New Jersey native came home to the Golden Dome with a strong whiff of success from being offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. That dazzling, golf-ball-sized object on his right hand is actually a Super Bowl champion ring.

Things have been looking up ever since for the Fighting Irish. They're 5-2, ranked No. 8 and on Oct. 15 was one last play of ending Southern Cal's three-year-long winning streak.

NBC is on the Weis' bandwagon. When the Irish suffer, the network that televises their games also suffers.

The Weis revival has been good news for the peacock. The USC game was the highest-rated Notre Dame game in 11 years.

Oddly, the third highest national market for the game, behind Indianapolis and Los Angeles, was Knoxville.

Possible explanation: Tennessee fans, on an open date, were so dazzled to see entertaining offense they stayed glued to the screen.

Saturday, Notre Dame attempts to sustain its feel-good story when it gets a visit from the star-crossed Vols.

Although he doesn't look the part of a guru, do not be deceived. Charlie Weis knows offense.

It would be enlightening to sit down over a cold beverage and get Weis' candid take on the train wreck that has been UT's offense this fall.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen Tuesday. During his weekly session with the media, Weis made the Vols sound like Super Bowl contenders.

He ticked off impressive-sounding evidence about a gifted young running back, a 275-pound fullback, a massive offensive line, and big, fast, experienced receivers. He worried about the complexity of facing both a right- and a left-handed quarterback.

"Maybe I'm missing something,'' Weis concluded with a shrug, a reference to the Vols' abysmal offensive production.

After deflecting questions about whether he really did score a perfect 1,600 on the SAT and get accepted to Harvard, Weis eventually, got around to a revealing insight. It was in response playing to a two-quarterback system.

"That usually doesn't end up panning out,'' he said. "I've always believed you get one guy ready to go and the other guy ready to be a back-up.

"Me personally, I'd pick a guy and set the offense around that guy.''

Weis, personally, has set Notre Dame's offense around junior Brady Quinn. It was a no-brainer.

Quinn had two years as a starter before Weis arrived. But the transformation in Quinn in particular and the Irish offense in general has been remarkable.

Last year, the Irish averaged 369 yards of total offense while going 6-6 under Tyrone Willingham.

This year, the average is 492 yards and they have surpassed 500 in five of seven games. Already, 17 offensive school records have fallen.

It's a shining example of what a fresh approach can produce with the same talent.

Anxious to keep Weis from hopping back to the NFL, the school announced a contract extension through 2015 over the weekend.

So Weis is home for the long haul. Home with the Gipper and Touchdown Jesus and the Four Horsemen and all the trappings of the world's most-famous football program.

"I got to appreciate it more when I was a student,'' Weis said. "Excuse my ignorance, but now I'm oblivious to all the other things that are going on.''

Don't believe that for a minute. He's a Notre Dame man.