Calling it a "Christmas wish" come true, the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl has assembled the most anticipated pairing of its seven-year history, matching the University of Hawai'i football team with tradition-rich Notre Dame for the Dec. 24 game at Aloha Stadium.

It is a matchup that, thanks to the aura of the Irish, transcends the records of Notre Dame (6-6) and UH (7-6).

"We're excited to be playing a program that has such a storied tradition in college football," UH athletic director Jim Donovan said. The Irish, whose program and personalities have been the stuff of movies, including "Rudy" and "Knute Rockne All-American," have won 11 national championships while producing seven Heisman Trophy winners and nearly 200 All-Americans.

"We're very excited about heading out west to play in the (Hawai'i) Bowl," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said. "This is a great opportunity for our team to face a quality opponent in their backyard and we'll need to be ready."

UH coach Greg McMackin has repeatedly encouraged the bowl's efforts to land the much-sought-after Irish.

"Notre Dame has a huge national following and the visibility will be good for our program, our school and our state," Donovan said.

The most-watched of the previous six Hawai'i Bowls was the 2006 UH-Arizona State game, which drew 2.3 million households. People in the television industry see the potential for nearly double that because of Notre Dame's presence. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN, and will be the only college football game that day.

"Notre Dame is a high-profile team that demands fan and media attention, and getting the Irish is a great coup for (bowl officials) Pete Derzis and David Matlin," said Karl Benson, commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference.

Bowl officials hope to top the largest turnout of a UH game this season, which was 36,766 for San Jose State.

The game comes amid prime recruiting time. National letter of intent day, the first date prospective recruits from high schools can sign binding letters of commitment, is Feb. 4, 2009.

It will be Notre Dame's fourth appearance in Hawai'i and third against UH. The Irish lost to Southern Methodist, 27-20, in the 1984 Aloha Bowl and beat UH 48-42 in regular-season games in 1991 and 23-22 in 1997.

As recently as a week ago, people close to the Hawai'i Bowl were estimating the game's chance of landing Notre Dame at "5 to 10 percent."

At the time, first-year executive director Matlin's "dream" scenario was still UH versus a Pac-10 team.

PAC-10 HAD DOWN YEAR

This is the first year of the bowl's multiyear tie-in with the Pac-10, something fans and bowl officials have long sought after five years with the less visible Conference USA.

UH eventually took care of its part in the equation after a 1-3 start by beating Washington State Nov. 29 for its seventh win, assuring bowl eligibility.

But the Pac-10, in an uncharacteristically down year, was struggling to meet its obligation to send a sixth selection and it was feared the Hawai'i Bowl might have to look to a less recognizable representative from the much-less prestigious Mid-American or Sun Belt conferences to find UH an opponent.

At that point, the Honolulu-based Matlin lobbied the game's owner, ESPN Regional Television of Charlotte, N.C., to lay the groundwork for the long-shot possibility of Notre Dame, enlisting Derzis, ERT vice president, in the cause.

But, Matlin said, "a lot had to happen" in a process that others involved have compared to a "root canal."

Slowly, it unfolded.

The Irish were stunned by 3-9 Syracuse, 24-23, removing them from consideration from the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. Notre Dame's 38-3 loss to Southern California coupled with Louisville's 63-14 loss to Rutgers opened the way for Pittsburgh to represent the Big East in the Brut Sun Bowl instead of the Irish.

Then, the Pac-10 was able to field only five bowl-eligible teams because Stanford, UCLA and Arizona State all suffered crucial late losses and were unable to get to 6-6.

That made the Irish, at 6-6, an at-large team available to negotiate once the remaining teams with winning records, Western Michigan (9-3) and Louisiana Tech (7-5), were placed. Under NCAA rules, all teams with winning records must be accommodated before those with .500 marks.

The Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., Motor City Bowl in Detroit and Texas Bowl in Houston joined the Hawai'i Bowl as the Irish's options over the weekend. All put a full-court press on Notre Dame and all offered major TV exposure except Texas, which has an NFL Network deal.

PLAYERS FAVORED ISLES

Irish spokesman John Heisler said officials researched the various bowls and asked the players for input. They reportedly strongly favored the Hawai'i Bowl, but Heisler said a vote wasn't taken.

"We believe our game offers a world-class destination and an experience that the schools and their players will value," Derzis said. "We've gotten six years of wonderful feedback from teams that have been here."

To get Notre Dame, the Hawai'i Bowl reportedly agreed to work around the school's late final exam schedule, which runs to Dec. 19. Traditionally, the game has asked its teams to be in town nearly a week before the game. Indications are the Irish will be here Dec. 20.

"We're doing what we can to accommodate them any way we can," Matlin said.

The financial investment for Notre Dame is "not inconsiderable," Heisler said, and is expected to result in a net loss for the Fighting Irish to play in the Hawai'i Bowl. The Pac-10 and C-USA have said they have underwritten appearances by their teams in the past.