One of college football’s most recognizable pregame rituals has a Norman origin story, even if plenty of people have spent years associating it with Notre Dame.
For Oklahoma fans, that matters. The Sooners have long viewed “Play Like A Champion Today” as part of their own identity, and “Traditions Week” for Stormin’ In Norman is the right time to say it plainly: this one started in Oklahoma, not South Bend.
The phrase first showed up in Norman in the late 1940s, when legendary OU coach Bud Wilkinson put up a sign in the tunnel leading from the locker room to Owen Field. The idea was simple and direct - a final push before the team stepped onto the field. That sign has been part of the program ever since, and generations of Sooners have tapped it on the way out for game day.
Notre Dame didn’t adopt the same routine until about four decades later, ahead of the 1986 season, when Lou Holtz placed a sign with the same phrase at Notre Dame Stadium. From there, the Fighting Irish copied the tunnel tap, and once NBC cameras started showing it inside the tunnel, the ritual became closely tied to Notre Dame in the eyes of the college football public.
The backstory at Notre Dame is less clear than the image suggests. Holtz reportedly found a picture of the phrase while looking through a Notre Dame history book, but when he began asking around about it, no one seemed to know much about the sign.
Even so, whatever brief version may have existed in South Bend never turned into the kind of lasting tradition Oklahoma already had in place. In Norman, the connection is unmistakable. Wilkinson brought the phrase to OU, and the program still treats it as part of its foundation - along with the three national titles tied to his era.
The sign remains in the tunnel at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where players still reach up and tap it before heading onto the field. There’s also a crimson banner with the same phrase, framed by flags representing the Sooners’ seven national titles. And when Oklahoma plays away from Norman, a replica sign travels with the team so the ritual can continue on the road.
For some, the whole debate may sound like a small fight over an old sign. But in college football, traditions carry real weight, and Oklahoma has every reason to claim this one.
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