IT’S NO SECRET that Ohio Valley native Lou Holtz, who was in the coaching ranks at Ohio State, Notre Dame and elsewhere, is extremely knowledgeable about football and talent.

As the Buckeyes and the Fighting Irish are preparing to face each other Friday in the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl, Holtz might be recalling the time that he hired Urban Meyer, now head coach at OSU, to be an assistant at Notre Dame.

Meyer coached wide receivers for the Fighting Irish from 1996-2000 before being hired for his first head coaching job, which was at Bowling Green State University.

Asked at a recent press conference what his whole experience – spiritually, football-wise and career-wise – at Notre Dame meant to him, Meyer replied, “Game changer. When Lou Holtz made the call, I was in Fort Collins, Colo., (and he) asked me to join the staff at Notre Dame and that was a game changer. I remember walking through that campus, and probably one of the greatest things that I remember is my son was baptized in the Log Chapel, original building there. Father Reilly, who passed away, was one of dear, dear friends.

“And then also, my mom was diagnosed, it was the second or third time that it came back, and I remember going to the Grotto every night for, it had to be four years, on the way home from work. So special place and a special place in my heart.”

Now, however, both Meyer and Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly have been striving to prepare their teams for the New Year’s Day match-up.

Regarding the Fighting Irish as an excellent team, Meyer said, “A couple first-rounders on defense, probably more than that, very good. You just don’t see chunks of yardage. Usually you find a formation, you find a situation, you find a team that had a lot of success, and a very good team.

He mentioned Notre Dame’s “very good offensive line. That’s their strength. They have a dynamic receiver. Quarterback does a nice job. He runs as well as throws. You have a team that could be playing for the national title.”

Noting the Buckeyes are well-coached and have very good athletes on both sides of the ball, Kelly said OSU’s “physical style of football, running the football I think is the thing that Ezekiel Elliott has obviously shown that, a quarterback that is multitalented in his ability to run it and throw it.

“So I think it starts with that physical dimension, physical front. Joey Bosa coming off the edge, a pass rusher. Physical front, physical offensive line, running the football. That’s what kind of stands out as the demeanor of an Ohio State football team, physical, and then just well-coached in all areas, including the special teams.”

OSU junior defensive end Joey Bosa said, “I’m pretty excited about this match-up – two great teams with great traditions. It’ll be a fun match-up with all of the talent both teams have.

“Talent-wise, there are great players everywhere you look. They have an athletic quarterback who can run like J.T. and two big, athletic tackles. There are just great athletes everywhere.”

Joshua Perry, Buckeye senior linebacker who is one of 12 OSU graduates to be on the field Friday, said the possibility of his class winning 50 games in four years would mean a lot.

He added, “You want to leave here a winner, people remember the last thing you did here so getting that win will be important. It’ll be a great match-up against a really good team so we have to prepare like we always do and take care of all of our business. But for all of us to go out the right way would be awesome.”

Notre Dame coaches and players don’t want to end with a loss either.

Kelly pointed out that “first and foremost, this team wants to win. … Look, we lost our last game, and nobody wants to end their season on a loss. They want to end it on a win. So the preparation for this game and its focus will be about preparing to win the football game.”

He was referring to the Fighting Irish’s loss to Stanford by a 38-26 score. Notre Dame’s only other loss during regular season was to Clemson, 24-22.

BETTY’S BANTER

AS THIS was being written, the No. 7 Buckeyes, who are 11-1, were a six-and-a-half point favorite over the 10-2 No. 8 Fighting Irish.

THIS MARKS the third consecutive time for the two teams to meet as Top 10 teams, and the previous games were in 2006 and 1996. It’s the sixth time they’ve tangled, and the Buckeyes have won the last three games.

FRIDAY’S game, slated for 1 p.m., will be televised by ESPN.

Pokas can be reached at bettypokas@yahoo.com.