Be skeptical. Don't buy in yet. Doubt. Question. Let your cynicism run free. Even disbelieve if you want.

No one, least of all this humble scribe, will fault you. If any fan base over the last 14 years has reason to be suspect and unsure about the merits of its football team, it's those who follow the Fighting Irish.

You Domer fans have been burned so often in the recent past, you wouldn't be human if you weren't inclined to accentuate the negative and eliminate the positive. You've been conditioned to expect the worst. Moreover, you see as a mirage any signs that suggest a definitive turn of fortunes is in the offing.

Your hands have been singed. Your emotions have been traumatized. The agony that your minds have been forced to endure has reduced them to little more than mush.

Because rooting for the Irish since 1996 has put you through the ringer. Your hope has all but evaporated. No longer do you accept things at face value. To you, blind faith doesn't exist. Now, you must be shown to truly believe. Words and rhetoric have become empty. Only actual actions and deeds on the field will get you to return to the flock and fully embrace the Irish mystique again.

Since the accomplished and dynamic Lou Holtz arranged his exit from South Bend, Notre Dame has entrusted its head coaching position to four men. The first three ultimately washed out. The jury is still out on the fourth.

After Holtz's departure, there were fleeting periods of promise. When signs seemed to point to a return of consistent and high-caliber play.

Bob Davie looked to have turned the corner when his 1998 squad emerged victorious in nine of its first 10 games.

Ty Willingham appeared to be onto something in 2002 when he sprang from the gate and won his initial eight games as the Irish coach.

Charlie Weis gave indications of being the real deal when he guided the Domers to a pair of BCS bowls.

But none of the aforementioned trio exhibited anything close to staying power. They simply couldn't sustain any momentum. While each had an encouraging peak or two, just as quickly they descended into a deep and depressing valley. Consistency of performance was totally absent.

ND's fortunes fluctuated wildly, though mostly on the downside. Things got so erratic you literally didn't know from week-to-week what kind of Irish team would show up. No longer could you count on Notre Dame putting forth a dependable and reliable effort. It became a crap-shoot trying to predict how the Domers would fare. And much too often under Davie, Willingham and Weis, the Irish were rolling snake-eyes.

Now, in a classic case of history repeating itself, we find the Irish on a bit of an uptick. First-year coach Brian Kelly has teased the Irish fan base with a spirited run to the finish line in 2010.

Stuck with a dismal 4 and 5 record well into November, Kelly made like Houdini and transformed a disastrous year into a tolerable one by directing his charges to four straight wins, including a most impressive 33-17 thumping of the Miami Hurricanes in the Sun Bowl. By doing so, Kelly achieved a certain stature by becoming the first ever Irish coach to capture his initial bowl tilt.

With his team's strong kick to the wire, Kelly had quieted the critics, including yours truly, who had justifiably chastised him for dubious in-game decision making during devastating losses to both Navy and Tulsa. Where he was once being pilloried, B.K. was now receiving deserved plaudits and praise for not panicking and keeping his players fully engaged and highly motivated.

So once again, it would seem Irish fans have reason for optimism. Finishing with a flourish has put a most positive spin on the season just concluded. It's possible that ND's immediate future could be quite bright.

Reasons for a potential resurgence abound.

A suddenly rejuvenated defense that played lights out down the stretch, could return as many as nine starters.

Under Kelly's hands-on direction, the offense grew more comfortable and productive with his spread system. Things really appear to be coming together when the Irish possess the ball.

And the improvement on the special teams has been seismic. From David Ruffer's commendably clutch field-goal prowess to the noticeably more efficient coverage on kickoffs and punts, this crucial phase of the game can no longer be considered a liability. Quite the contrary, Domer special teams have become an obvious strength with game-changing capacity.

So here we sit. Hope is on the verge of reemerging. There's a sense that a renaissance could be around the corner. A feeling exists that perhaps the Irish are preparing to return to real relevancy. That, at last, ND is primed to string together a number of consistent and successful seasons. On the surface, much seems in place for a true reawakening of Notre Dame football.

But even with all these positives staring them in the face, Irish backers can't be blamed if they're not close to being convinced. After all the disappointment and swoons of recent years, ND fans have lost the trust factor. And their confidence in the ND brand won't be revived until there are tangible results to reignite their belief in a program that has left them frustrated and disheartened.

We've seen brief glimpses of sunlight before. Davie, Willingham and Weis all had their moments in the glow. But just as quickly, dark clouds descended and overtook them. They flamed out because they were incapable of keeping anything going. They lacked the knack for getting their teams to be consistent and good over even a modest amount of time.

And because of their failures, no one is going to buy into Brian Kelly until he demonstrates winning has once more become a habit in South Bend. Only when Kelly makes defeat only an occasional visitor instead of a constant companion will he win over the masses. And to accomplish that, he'll have to mount multiple BCS scalps up on the wall.

Being good over the short term won't cut it for Kelly. To get where he wants to go, to be thought of as a memorable Irish coach, Kelly will need to excel over the long haul. That is no easy task. In many ways, it will require a Herculean effort.

So far, this writer likes what he's seen of Kelly. He's bright, articulate, energetic and brings a fire to his work. He has a commanding and persuasive personality that should win over recruits. He also is wise enough to realize he doesn't know it all. Already, he's learned from some of the mistakes he committed in year one.

And he stood up in the face of adversity. When all about him seemed to be crashing down, Kelly didn't flinch or blink. He held firm to his beliefs and approach. The result was a satisfying and admirable four-game winning streak to culminate the season just past.

Yes, Kelly is giving off a positive vibe right now. At the moment, he looks like he might be the right guy to lead the Irish out of the wilderness. But we've seen these same indications from other coaches. Only to discover that instead of hitting the Mother-load, they were grasping nothing but fool's gold.

Kelly's gotten off to a reasonably solid start under the Golden Dome. It isn't far-fetched to think he's capable of making a nice run with the Irish. But that's all it is. Just a start.

B.K. has a long way to go before he proves himself to be a success. Before he purges the skepticism, distrust and the insecurities of Irish fans everywhere.