SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame is putting a lot of meaning into what most people consider a meaningless Hawaii Bowl.

There will be no rankings at stake when the Fighting Irish (6-6) face Hawaii (7-6) on Dec. 24, no matchup of Heisman Trophy finalists and certainly no team feeling as if it had been bypassed for a BCS game.

The Irish, though, still believe they have plenty to play for, topped by trying to end their NCAA-record nine-game bowl losing streak. The streak began with a 41-24 loss to Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 1994 season.

"That's something we talked about as a team. It's very, very important to go out there and get a win, just to go out there and not only have a good time but get things going back right for the bowl streak," tailback Armando Allen said.

The Irish players have different motivations for wanting to end the streak.

"This truly is my last chance to leave a mark in the program, and also give those guys who are coming back something to build off of," said linebacker Maurice Crum, a fifth-year senior.

Safety David Bruton, part of coach Charlie Weis' first recruiting class, believes it's a chance for him and his classmates to prove something after seeing the Irish go 9-15 the past two seasons.

"That would be a major accomplishment, especially since mine and David's (Grimes) class, 'the forgotten class' or 'the worst class in Notre Dame history.' But it would be great to say we broke that streak along with the fifth year seniors and start a new streak in itself."

The underclassmen feel they owe it to the seniors to send them out with a win, especially since the Irish suffered an embarrassing 24-23 loss to Syracuse in their final home game on senior day and another embarrassing 38-3 loss to USC in their regular-season finale.

"We want to send them out on the right note. They want to be known as the class that ended this bowl streak and got things going in the right direction," freshman Kyle Rudolph said.

The last time Notre Dame won a bowl game was after the 1993 season, a 24-21 victory over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. The win moved its bowl record to 13-6, with three of the losses coming to top-ranked teams. That .684 winning percentage ranked Notre Dame as the winningest bowl team among teams that had played in at least 10 bowl games.

Now the Irish are 13-15, a .464 winning percentage. That places them 40th among teams that have played in at least 10 bowls, behind Toledo (.700), Fresno State (.588) and Kentucky (.583), among others.

Since Notre Dame last won a bowl game, 89 of the 119 FBS teams have won in the postseason.

Boston College has won nine of the 10 bowls it has appeared in during that stretch. Navy has won three bowls during that span. Even Florida Atlantic, which only began playing college football in 2001, has won a bowl since the Irish last did.

Even worse, seven of Notre Dame's nine bowl losses have been by double digits, with the average margin of defeat 17.6 points. The Irish were underdogs in every game except for the Gator Bowl against North Carolina State at the end of the 2002 season, which was pick'em. The Irish lost 28-6.

Notre Dame is a 1-point underdog this time.

A win would also set the tone for next season.

"When people are in a good mood and people are optimistic about things coming back and the future, it makes it that much easier to get up at 5:30 in the morning and make the trek across campus to work out," safety Kyle McCarthy said. "And while working out, it makes it a little easier to give it all you've got and know that the reward next season is going to be worth it."