<P> Play Like a Champion Today is a saying that both the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football programs have used over the years . Its origin before being used before the late 1940s is unknown . </P> <P> The term has been used by Notre Dame since at least 1986 when Lou Holtz came across a photo in a Notre Dame book with the sign "Play Like A Champion Today ." After asking around and coming up with no one remembering the sign and what had happened to it, he had a new sign painted and placed in a stairwell between the home team locker room and the tunnel to the field of Notre Dame Stadium . This original sign was painted by Laurie Wenger in the fall of 1986 . </P> <P> It is a tradition by players to touch it on their way out of the locker room . Above the sign is a listing of Notre Dame's eleven national championships . </P> <P> In 1991, the University granted Wenger exclusive marketing rights to the phrase . In 2004, with the support of the University the sign became the registered trademark of Play Like a Champion Today, Inc . Since that time, the University and PLACT, Inc. jointly license companies to produce co-branded products . </P>

Notre dame play like a champion today font