The University of Notre Dame is one of the unique sports phenomena ever known in American sports.

Even though it's a private, Catholic university in Northern Indiana, it has gather the popularity that is mainly seen in its public counterparts.

Thanks in part to the football program.

The Fighting Irish attract followers from across America. From students and alumni to Irish Catholics, the spirit of Notre Dame runs through its veins.

I, for the most part, am one of the many who feel the spirit of Notre Dame strongly and truly.

The Notre Dame spirit can be captured and displayed like no other college program.

Here are some signs that you may have felt the spirit of Notre Dame.

1. You replace the word “play” on a “Play like a Champion Today” sign with a word that relates to your occupation.

For those who don’t know, Notre Dame players touch a sign before entering the tunnel that says, “play like a champion today.” Therefore, it’s one of our game day traditions.

Fans of their respective teams often mimic the traditions they observe. This is no different with Notre Dame fans.

This habit was inspired by a commercial I would see during Notre Dame games. It showed Notre Dame alumni with various occupations touching a sign that only applied to each of them. Such as the scientific researcher touched a sign that said “research like a champion today.”

10 years ago, I was tailgating at my first ever Notre Dame football game. They were playing Navy in Baltimore and I see this guy walking around with signs. Apparently, he was selling Play Like a Champion Today signs for five bucks. My dad stated that we should get my teacher, Mr. Murray, one.

So we did and then he hung it up outside his classroom door. He took an index card and wrote “learn” in blue marker. He then taped it over the word “play” and therefore, I touched the “Learn like a Champion Today” sign.

Meanwhile, in 2012, I was tailgating and I saw a guy selling those signs for five bucks. I ended up buying one from that guy in South Bend. When I got home, I took a yellow piece of paper and wrote, “study and learn” and taped it over the word, “play.”

So every morning before I go to class, I touch that sign in my dorm room. Like the players, it gives me sort of a good luck charm.

2. You have more Notre Dame Apparel than from your own college

A friend of mine tweeted recently that she has more Notre Dame stuff than she would ever have of the college she’s attending.

That shows you how much of a national brand Notre Dame is. So national that people who follow them wear their stuff more often.

I will honestly say that when I got accepted in the Millersville and fully committed there, I did buy Millersville stuff. However, once I got there, I then realize that I was wearing Notre Dame stuff more often.

This is not to say I don’t have school spirit for the college I go to. I like the campus, my professors and the dormitories of Millersville. I mean, I cover the football team for the campus newspaper, The Snapper. That’s school spirit right?

However, it just so happens I just feel more team spirit for Notre Dame than Millersville. Recently, I was looking at Millersville hats at the bookstore. I then thought, “how often would I wear this?” I figure I’d just save my money and wear one of my many Notre Dame hats.

I feel like I only wear Millersville stuff on occasion, like Homecoming Weekend. I also feel that my Millersville shirts are the shirts I just throw on a bumming around day.

My Notre Dame collection is an essential part of my wardrobe. I’ve heard people say that people can tell what your interests are due to your clothes.

It's funny in a way because I wear Notre Dame shirts like I actually go there for college. I have always stated it's my dream school and joked that I would buy tickets over textbooks.

3. You know Notre Dame’s Alma Mater instead of your high schools and/or college’s alma mater.

By watching Notre Dame on NBC, I would see the team gather with the band and sing the Alma Mater, win or lose. After hearing it so many times, it became a song I know to heart. Four years ago, my cousins and I were singing the "Notre Dame, Our Mother" at a pep rally in South Bend. We sang that song with so much pride it sounded like we went to school there, but we did not.

Normally, Alma Maters are songs that have meaning to people who actually go a specific college. Alma Maters also unify people. In the case in Notre Dame, that song has a special way of connecting actual alumni with people like me who are just diehard fans.

I think there is a different type of spirit that is expressed when the Notre Dame Alma Mater is played. The only time I’m going to feel school pride during the Millersville Alma Mater is when I get that college degree at graduation in a few years.

In this case, I know the lyrics to “Notre Dame, Our Mother” to heart. I don’t even know the entirety of Millersville’s Alma Mater. I mean the only time I heard the Millersville Alma Mater was during the candlelight ceremony during orientation my freshman year.

Heck, I didn’t even know that my high school had an Alma Mater until my graduation. I knew Avon Grove had a fight song, and it happened to be the tune of the Notre Dame fight song! I wouldn’t think that high schools had Alma Maters. I thought was a college thing!

4. Yourefergoing to a Notre Dame football game as a “pilgrimage”

The word “pilgrimage” is mainly associated with religion. It is used when Catholics go to the Vatican, Jews go to Jerusalem, or Hindus visiting India.

As a fan of the team that has a national following, I do consider going on Notre Dame game as a pilgrimage. Every Notre Dame fan strives to go visit the campus and get tickets for a game there.

People always ask me if I’m going out to the pilgrimage to South Bend every year. Sometimes, our family pilgrimage may not be in South Bend. It could be in a city that is within doable driving distance.

Last month, my Uncle Dan referred this year’s trip as a “pilgrimage.” He used it in a text message to see if my dad and I were going. I told him we had another event planned that weekend. He got mad and wrote, “this is our annual pilgrimage!”

There are people out there that consider going to football games as a religious experience. I, for the most part, consider myself as one of those individuals. Coincidentally, I follow a college football team that has a religious identity. I think with Notre Dame being a Catholic university it intertwines football and religion.

Notre Dame has a proud and faithful fan base. It seems that Notre Dame is the thing that intertwines football and faith into one.

5. You get Notre Dame catalogs in the mail every year

This may sound funny but, as a frequent customer to the Notre Dame campus bookstore, I get mailed catalogs almost every year. Yes, folks, catalogs are still a thing.

I’m a part of a Notre Dame fan group on Facebook. These people post stuff about Notre Dame frequently. One day, I saw people from all over the country post pictures saying that their official catalog was in in the mail. I guessed that I wasn’t the only one receiving catalogs!

As a Notre Dame fan in Pennsylvania, it has been hit or miss when it comes to finding merchandise. I shop at Kohl’s on Kirkwood Highway in Delaware frequently and all I see there is Delaware Blue Hens stuff. Another favorite store mine, T.J. Maxx only sells Penn State shirts. Other than the mall, I hardly find any Notre Dame merchandise.

So then I have to turn to ordering online most the time. Along with Amazon, I order stuff off of the Hammes Notre Dame bookstore’s website. Since I ordered there frequently, I get to catalogs in the mail every year. Even though it’s a bit pricey, that store offers a more broad selection of merchandise than at a local sports store in the mall.

I see the campus bookstore having a broader selection of Notre Dame merchandise. It also allows me to buy stuff directly from campus. I’m guessing being mailed catalogs is Notre Dame’s way of giving customer rewards.

6. You will do whatever you can to make sure you go to a game whenever they’re near your hometown.

In most years where we can’t afford a trip to South Bend, road games in nearby cities will do. Again, it’s the “pilgrimage”, and you’ll ensure that you will attend.

Last year was a perfect example. I live an hour away from Philadelphia in the suburbs of Chester County. I noticed they were going to come to Philadelphia to play Temple at Lincoln Financial Field.

I knew the moment when the news broke that Notre Dame and Temple were going to play in Philly, I had to be there.

Yes, I’ve been the Notre Dame games before. Two in South Bend, two at the Meadowlands and one in Baltimore. However, those games required 3+ hours of driving.

Traveling to games, especially out to South Bend is expensive. They also require me to miss a day of school. I truly did not want to travel too far to go see them in person last season.

The Notre Dame-Temple game didn’t require me to miss school or travel 3+ hours on game day. It wasn’t even that pricey since my family knows people that can get tickets.

Since they don’t come to Philly often, I made sure I got a ticket. Getting to see the Fighting Irish in Philadelphia was probably the best road game I’ve been to! Let’s face it, every game I went to felt like a home game with Irish fans outnumbering the opposing home crowd.

7. Any loss is like the end of the world

Like always, every sports fan gets sad and mad when their favorite team loses.

Whenever Notre Dame loses, you feel like the one thing or person you look forward to all week didn’t show up or fell apart. Watching Notre Dame on Saturdays is always the one big thing I look forward to every day during the fall semester

With Notre Dame being an independent in football, they have a little room for error. In regards the College Football Playoff, The Irish must be undefeated or 11-1 to be considered.

As always, I want to see Notre Dame win every game. I also want to see them win the National Championship as well.

I also would like to see them win the first game of the season. Those losses always stink because they always never are planned and fall short of personal expectations.

With them losing to Texas in a double overtime classic, I, along with every Notre Dame fan, felt our playoff hopes went down the drain.

There’s that a part of me that wants to see the Fighting Irish go undefeated like they did in 2012. My hopes of an undefeated season along with losing the first game the season made that loss feel like the end the world.

8. During football season, you blow upeveryoneelse's newsfeeds with Notre Dame posts.

With football season now here, I am beginning to see posts about someone’s favorite team. The folks from the Notre Dame fan group are always sharing news articles, especially ones that relate to the previous game.

Besides tweeting and re-tweeting every moment during games, I share Notre Dame articles and videos on my profile. I tend to show a lot of team pride, even when I’m on social media.

I truly think being a diehard fan includes the social media interactions. I am always up to date on the team and during the fall, that’s all I talk about online. It’s now gone to the point where people are now beginning to think, “finally, something other than Trump.”

In closing...

I see football as a weekly de-stressor in my life during the fall and winter. Having it on a Saturday makes me have something to look forward to each week.

I was told that Notre Dame is a team that you either love or hate. From ticket sales to television ratings, Notre Dame has a brand notoriety that draws in sports fans from across America.

I definitely feel a part of the team. Especially when I received letters from former head coach Charlie Weis and now, Brian Kelly. Notre Dame has a special place in my heart.

Truly, I could never see myself rooting for any other college football team religiously. I live and breathe Notre Dame football. Those things I listed truly show how the Fighting Irish are somehow incorporated in my daily life.

This is the true meaning of a die-hard fan.