THREE-POINT STANCE
1. Notre Dame is 2-0 after earning a 41-17 victory at Waynesburg (Pa.) in their last game, on Sept. 14. The Falcons are 1-0 at home and 1-0 on the road and have scored 90 points through their first two games.

2. On Sunday (Sept. 27), NDC welcomes the junior varsity squad from Case Western Reserve. The contest between the Falcons and Spartans (Korb Field-Brush HS, Lyndhurst, Ohio, 1 p.m.) marks Notre Dame's homecoming game. The game will be broadcast tape-delayed (beginning at 4 p.m.) on WELW radio (1330 AM).

3. When NDC takes the field Sunday, they'll be coming off a 12-day layoff due to a bye week. Later this season, the Falcons will have a 13-day layoff before hosting Central Carolina on Nov. 8.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
In-game updates on Twitter … Game story, box score and game notes available on NotreDameFalcons.com … Weekly Football release posted on NotreDameFalcons.com each week.

HEAD COACH ADAM HOWARD
NDC's start-up program is led by Adam Howard. Howard was named NDC's first head coach in January, 2009. He came to College Road from across town, where he served as assistant head coach/defensive coordinator for Baldwin-Wallace. Howard was the Yellow Jackets' defensive coordinator the last six seasons (2003-08). He was the defensive backs coach for the 2002 season. At B-W, the former Wilmington College player (1993-97) developed one of the finest defensive corps in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). The New Carlisle, Ohio, native was named the OAC's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2003.

SPARTANS AT A GLANCE
CWRU's varsity squad has started the 2009 season out with wins in each of their first three games. A year ago, the Spartans, under Head Coach Greg Debeljak, went 10-1, losing their only game in the NCAA-III playoffs (20-17 to Wabash). … Under Debeljak, CWRU has won 21 consecutive regular season games from 2006-2008 on its way to back-to-back University Athletic Association titles and NCAA playoff appearances (2007: second round, 2008: first round). Debeljak and his coaching staff received the UAA Coaching Staff of the Year award for the third time (2004, 2007, 2008) after the Spartans finished the 2008 season ranked eighth in the nation in the American Football Coaches Association poll. … Including the playoffs, Case Western Reserve has posted a 21-2 record overall the past two seasons.

CAPTAINS THREE
#Matt Cuthbert#, #Orane McDonald# and #Trevor Smith# will serve as NDC's team captains this week, representing the special teams, defense and offense, respectively. … Director of Athletics Susan Hlavacek will serve as Honorary Captain, and NDC Dean of Online Programming Rob Davis will be on the sideline as a guest coach.

KO-CHAMPION
Notre Dame wrestler #Adam Koballa# will be honored in a special halftime ceremony on Sunday. Koballa, a native of Twinsburg, Ohio, and a graduate of St. Peter Chanel High School (Bedford) went 30-5 with nine pins last season. In March, he earned an NAIA National Championship in his weight division (141 pounds). He was later honored as a Scholar-Athlete by the National Wrestling Coaches of Association. … In two seasons on College Road, the son of Dennis and Andrea Koballa owns a 41-6 record.

NOTABLE
Freshman #Kyle Shaffer# used NDC's bye week to move up to No. 1 on the depth chart at quarterback. Shaffer is a 2009 graduate of Riverside High School (Painesville, Ohio), where he earned three letters for the Beavers in football and another two in baseball. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound signal caller compiled 2,574 passing yards over his junior and senior seasons at RHS. He served as senior captain in the 2008 season, when he earned Second Team All-Premier Athletic Conference honors, with 123 completions for a school-record 1,833 yards. Shaffer left Riverside as the school's career record-holder for touchdown passes (21). Playing for Head Coach Ryan Wolf, he led the Beavers to a 13-7 record over two seasons as a starter.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Adam Howard on the Falcons' bye week - “The bye week was good for our guys. We got a lot accomplished and there has been significant competition for spots up and down our depth chart. As coaches, that's what we like to see.”

RUN N-D-C
#Michael Booker#, a 5-foot-7, 170-pound freshman running back from Grand Rapids, Mich., spearheaded a Falcon rushing attack that piled up over 200 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in NDC's last game (9/14). Booker scored on runs of seven, 60, and 61 yards. Quarterback #Derrick Paster# and running back #Ricky Stevens# also scored rushing touchdowns in the 41-17 victory. … In two games, the Falcons have utilized their running game to hit paydirt seven times. Booker and Paster have each run for three touchdowns.

TOUCHDOWN CLUB
Seven different Falcons have combined to score 13 touchdowns on the season - seven rushing, two passing, two via special teams and two by the defense. … The Blue & White have already scored 10 touchdowns this season on plays of 25 yards or more.

FAST IN FLIGHT
Notre Dame scored six touchdowns in the opening half of their 49-0 win over Hiram (9/6). In the Waynesburg game (9/14), the Falcon offense scored four times in the first half.

PROGRAM HISTORY
The development of a Football program at Notre Dame College was announced on Nov. 25, 2008. Head Coach Adam Howard was hired on Jan. 26, and the program announced its first round of recruits on March 14. The Falcons opened their first fall camp on Aug. 7.

ONE AND ONLY
Notre Dame is currently the only scholarship football program in metropolitan Cleveland.

MAKING A MOVE
On July 10, the NCAA announced that NDC had a membership application approved and that the College would begin the 09-10 year as a Candidacy Year-One institution in the NCAA Division II membership process.

HASH MARKS
Freshman #Andrew Davis# pulled off the rare feat of scoring special teams TDs in each of the Falcons' first two contests. The Macedonia, Ohio, native tallied each on a return of a blocked punt. … In their last home game (Sept. 6 vs. Hiram) Notre Dame turned their home field advantage into good field position - a dominant defensive effort led to the Falcons having an average starting field position at their own 43-yard line.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Next week, NDC hosts a special on-campus game Union Christian on Thursday, 10/1. Kickoff is slated for 4 PM.