SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Brendan Boyle checked his work schedule. Then he blocked off the final Monday of January and booked flights to Las Vegas for himself, his wife and his teenage daughter.The six-term congressman from Pennsylvania’s 2nd District is a 1999 Notre Dame graduate. He’s not senior enough to control the calendar of the U.S. House of Representatives. Two years ago, that meant he was stuck in Washington for the inauguration of Donald Trump on the same day Notre Dame played for the national championship. Boyle watched every snap of that loss to Ohio State, but he couldn’t get to Atlanta for it.“That opening drive, that moment of hope is something I’ll always remember,” Boyle said. “It’s like, ‘Wait a minute, is this really going to happen?’”For a large swath of Notre Dame’s fan base, that feeling is back. And it has gathered strength.Notre Dame is among the preseason betting favorites to win its first national championship in 38 years, one of the most prominent title droughts in American sports. The Irish have the best odds to finish the regular season undefeated on FanDuel; their odds to make the College Football Playoff are at -750. To approximate that in point spread terms, the Irish are about a two-touchdown favorite to make the 12-team field.With coach Marcus Freeman, quarterback CJ Carr and virtually the entire defense back, plus a light schedule and the lingering angst of being snubbed on selection day last December, Notre Dame fans are brimming with faith that this year might be the year. And many are priming their wallets, their credit card points and their vacation schedules to make sure they don’t miss a game that is still six months (and multiple playoff rounds) away.Some have booked hotels, others have grabbed flights and most are already thinking about tickets after the get-in price for the Notre Dame-Ohio State title game in 2024 maxed out above $2,000. It’s a kind of planning ahead many fans fear could set the stage for heartbreak. But they can’t help themselves.“This has been many decades in the making, this season,” Boyle said. “It’s both wonderful to be really looking forward to something and it makes me feel nervous. What’s the saying, once bitten, twice shy? I feel like I’ve been bitten 12 times.”Boyle attended the Bush Push game as a recent graduate, walking out of Notre Dame Stadium after that loss to USC thinking that the Irish were on the verge of a return to prominence. He also felt that way during his senior year when he called games on WVFI, the student radio station. In the 1999 season opener, Notre Dame upset defending national champion Michigan, which started Tom Brady at quarterback. Boyle called the game from the press box wearing a white dress shirt and dark tie, more fitting of a future congressman than a play-by-play man. As the clock ticked down, Boyle took off his headphones, dropped the microphone and turned back into a student, rushing the field with his classmates. He got a photo with the radio team while celebrating. It hangs in his office.These days Boyle thinks about another picture, not yet taken.“This time it’s me, my wife and my daughter.”John McCauley bets on Notre Dame to make the national championship game almost every summer, just not in the way you’d think.In mid-August, McCauley, a subway alum from Nashville whose grandfather worked in Notre Dame’s development office under former school president Rev. Ted Hesburgh, buys an option on title game tickets at CFP-RSVP.com. It’s a virtual marketplace affiliated with the CFP that sells the right to purchase at face value a ticket to the championship game, attached to a particular team.The company has roughly 2,000 tickets to sell, split between the lower bowl (placed in a team-specific section) and upper bowl (where they’re spread out). Last year, a preseason RSVP for Indiana went for $20. Texas opened at $300 and sold out. When Notre Dame won its season opener at Texas A&M two years ago, McCauley bought four Irish RSVPs for $160 each. A week later, after the Northern Illinois loss, Notre Dame RSVPs were selling for $30. And a day after Notre Dame beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl, guaranteeing the Irish a spot in the title game, McCauley bought four more RSVPs for $800 each.