"The University of Louisville is on a collision course with the national championship. The only variable is time."
It's still the most famous quote associated with Louisville football, and now the man who made it thinks the time has come for the Cardinals to make it come to life.
Former U of L coach Howard Schnellenberger spoke to Thomas Beisner of CN|2 sports on Monday, and said that with Charlie Strong spurning Tennessee and Teddy Bridgewater suiting up for his junior season, Louisville football is ready to realize the dream he shared with the world in the late '80s.
Despite going a combined 8-24-1 in his first three seasons at Louisville, Schnellenberger's insistence that the porgram could win a national championship never wavered.
"You have to understand that what we're doing here is the biggest thing that's ever been done in college football," Schnellenberger said following a 3-7-1 campaign in 1989.
"And when we make it happen," he continued, "Paul Bryant going to Texas A&M and Alabama and winning national championships won't be this big. Knute Rockne taking that little Catholic school on the plain in South Bend and making a nationally prominent program won't be as big as this."
Louisville went on to go 10-1-1 and thrash Alabama in the Fiesta Bowl the next season.