Many college football fans dismiss Notre Dame as a relic of “the black-and-white era,” perhaps because there hasn’t been a football program with more big-screen exposure than the Fighting Irish. Don’t be surprised if the next film is entitled, “50 Shades of Blue, Green and Gold.”

“There are two kinds of people in the world: Notre Dame lovers and Notre Dame haters,” said Dan Devine, Notre Dame’s coach when the Irish last played in Death Valley. “And quite frankly they’re both a pain in the ass.”

Contempt for Notre Dame is universal yet the program remains relevant.

Notre Dame played for a national championship as recently as 2013 and last won one in 1988, which the guy on the next barstool claimed was proof “they’re living in the 80’s.” He was wearing a Clemson shirt.

The birth of the legend can be traced to the Knute Rockne era, around the time legendary columnist Grantland Rice tapped out the lead from the 1924 Notre Dame-Army game for the New York Herald-Tribune:

“Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again …”

Through deft marketing, repetition of myth and occasionally playing fast and loose with the truth, Notre Dame was hammered into the cultural fabric of the American sport. Its status as an iconic program is almost inescapable but has legs.

Though Michigan has won the most games in college football history, second-place Notre Dame has won a record 73.2 percent of its games. Notre Dame has won 13 national championships recognized by the NCAA.

There’s a museum adjacent to the stadium in South Bend honoring the seven Heisman Trophy winners including one on a team with a losing record. Three others finished second in voting, including the quarterback whose name rhymes with Heisman, but that’s a story for another time.

Notre Dame produced 97 consensus All-Americans, 33 unanimous All-Americans and 50 members of the College Football Hall of Fame. Nobody has more. The 486 former Notre Dame players drafted by the NFL ranks second only to Southern Cal.

No other football team – college and pro – has all its games broadcast nationally on radio, and Notre Dame is the only school with a television network contract with all its home games televised. Before the proliferation of live national telecasts abridged versions of games were aired on Sunday mornings illustrated by the unmistakable voice of Lindsey Nelson.

Lou Holtz will always be “the former Notre Dame coach” with all the other stops in his career relegated to supporting roles, but his was one of five statues erected outside the stadium as a winner of a national championship. And though he’s no longer part of ESPN’s coverage, Holtz can be heard on Sirius XM radio which significantly reduces the impact of his magic tricks.

Showtime now delivers a weekly half hour, “A Season with Notre Dame,” which is a must watch for Clemson fans, but talk about a powerful recruiting tool.

Why all the exposure? The potential consumer base is a Madison Avenue dream. Roughly more than 1 in 5 Americans are Roman Catholic, trailing only Brazil , Mexico and the Philippines in total numbers.

Americans seem to crave well cast villains and heroes, and college football is more interesting when Notre Dame is relevant, just as the Yankees in baseball and the Lakers and Celtics in basketball.

Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S. this week might be an ominous sign for Clemson, as this anecdote imparts.

During the summer of 1984 former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo was granted an audience with Pope John Paul II during his family’s vacation. DeBartolo packed a velvet sack with beads and rosaries from family at home for the Pope’s blessing.

While standing in queue at The Vatican, he reached into his coat pocket and discovered a wallet-sized copy of the 49ers’ schedule. Moments before the Pope faced him DeBartolo whipped out the schedule and placed it on the velvet sack. The Pope’s hand covered the sack and card as he blessed them.

DeBartolo repeated the story two months later, the night before the 49ers’ sixth game that season. With former Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana, they lost to Pittsburgh the next week but not again.

So don’t be surprised if the Holy Father tosses a Hail Mary to Notre Dame before he leaves the country.

What coverage do you call to defend that?