Remember when Maurice Crum Jr. went off on UCLA in 2007?

UCLA Brandon Breazell, left, is forced to play defense as Notre Dame's Maurice Crum returns an interception during fourth quarter at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Saturday October 06, 2007. (Photo by Richard Hartog/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) By the time Notre Dame arrived at the Rose Bowl to face UCLA on October 6, 2007, the season already felt like it was slipping away. The Irish were 0-5, buried beneath criticism, injuries, and the weight of a seven-game losing streak dating back to the previous season.

For a program built on pride and tradition, it was unfamiliar territory — and dangerously close to history for all the wrong reasons. But sometimes a season-changing moment doesn’t begin with offensive fireworks or headline-grabbing heroics. Sometimes it starts with a defense refusing to quit.

On a night when the Notre Dame offense still struggled to find consistency, the Irish defense delivered one of the grittiest performances of the Charlie Weis era. Led by Maurice Crum Jr. , Tom Zbikowski, and a relentless defensive front, Notre Dame forced turnovers, created chaos, and finally gave Irish fans something they had desperately been waiting for: hope.

The following excerpt is from the 2007 Notre Dame Football Review, published in Scholastic Magazine (Vol. 149, No. 7, January 31, 2008), and written by Andy Gray.