Alabama may be the favorites to beat Notre Dame for the BCS Championship Monday night, but the Fighting Irish are giving themselves a shot at an upset.

Notre Dame’s practice appeared to go at full speed, with full pads, but no real contact.

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o said that his run at the Heisman Trophy and the team’s number one ranking won’t mean anything unless they prepare and perform like champions.

He said that his team needs to practice hard for the next several days.

“You can’t just turn it on and off.  I can’t just slack the whole weekend and then when game day comes, say ‘OK, I’m ready to go all out,’” said Te’o.  “It’s a day to day process and I know that, and everyone on our team knows that.”

“You’re either a die-hard Notre Dame fan, or you hate Notre Dame,” said Notre Dame Safety Matthais Farley.  “There really is no in between, so for those people who love Notre Dame, it would be a huge uplift across the board.”