SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Three-hundred and seventy-one days after Notre Dame played its inaugural game against Mercyhurst, the Falcons and Lakers will be back at it again as they open with each other for a second straight season. Saturday's tilt at Tullio Field in Erie, Pa., comes against a Mercyhurst squad that won a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crown a year ago and comes into 2011 as a preseason No. 17 selection (American Football Coaches' Association). The Lakers went 6-1 at home a year ago and their 10-3 overall mark included a 23-0 victory over Notre Dame on Aug. 23.

For NDC, its second season opens with MC and then two more road games before the Falcons play their home opener on Sept. 24. The Blue & White went 2-9 in their inaugural-season campaign, with both wins coming on the road. They return 19 starters and 38 letterman from the 2010 squad, a team that averaged 10.4 points per game while yielding 28.3. New faces dot the two-deep roster, however, as Head Coach ADAM HOWARD and his staff have infused some freshman and transfer talent on both sides of the ball.

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