It's there in black and white if not black and blue. It's forever etched in the record books.

It stands out like bloodshot eyes. And no amount of Visine can clear it up.

Simply stated, Notre Dame's departing seniors, both the fifth-year types and the more conventional four-year kind, didn't get the job done when it truly mattered the most.

When the lights were brightest, they got stage fright. When the stakes were highest, they tended to fold. When facing their most daunting challenges, they got antsy. When truly put to the test, they often flunked.

Their legacy is a mixed bag if ever there was one. Good at times, creators of some electrifying moments, spectacular on occasion but on balance, not all that memorable of an era.

In the pantheon of Notre Dame achievements on the football field, their collective efforts won't rank particularly high. Solid contributors to the program, to be sure, but as a group they didn't accomplish an overabundance of what could be considered particularly noteworthy or special.

The black marks against them are bold and pronounced such as no victories over USC and not a single Bowl win. That's Adam Dunn-like in terms of striking out. Batting .000 in those categories doesn't warrant much reverence or praise. In the areas that most define a team's historical standing, these Irish got shutout.

Because of their inability to beat Troy or show something in the postseason, the outgoing players have been reduced to pointing out that they helped lift the Irish back to respectability. They quickly mention that they laid a foundation upon which the Domers could construct and build.

No argument there. With the program sinking fast, the now vacating seniors, with the considerable help of one Charlie Weis it must be added, were able to arrest the downward trend and stabilize things.

By following up a 9 and 3 ledger with a 10 and 3 campaign, the seniors proved themselves to be more than capable repair men. They helped staunch the bleeding and allowed the program to heal. In large part, they were responsible for returning the Irish to a state of relative health.

But what they weren't were miracle workers!

Though they got the Domers to a certain level and raised them to a given point of achievement, they weren't able to push beyond that. Eventually, they stalled. They ran out of gas going up the steepest grades.

And that's every bit as much of their legacy as are the memorable comebacks over Michigan State and UCLA.

There was plenty of good but there was also lots of bad like getting blasted by Ohio State, Michigan, USC and LSU all within a calendar year, given a day or two. To not even be competitive in those contests significantly diminishes the other positives that took place on the seniors' watch.

Historically, ND has built its reputation on rising to the occasion.  In any honest appraisal, no one can claim that the vacating seniors did that to any meaningful degree.

As marvelous as Brady Quinn was during the last two years, he never demonstrated that legendary quality of single-handedly carrying an inferior Irish team over an elite foe.

Receivers Jeff Samardzija and Rhema McKnight were record-setters and awe inspiring at times but both experienced faltering moments when ND desperately needed them.

Veterans of the offensive line like Ryan Harris, Dan Santucci and Bob Morton were hard workers and gave solid effort but when upper echelon opponents brought the heat, they weren't able to protect Quinn from some fierce poundings that greatly crippled the Domer attack.

Defensive lineman Derek Landri was a true warrior and end Victor Abiamiri could be scintillating on the rush but neither ever had close to a dominant game against the best of the best. 

In the secondary, the inspirational Tom Zbikowski could hit like the devil and  made plenty of big plays but by the same token, it wasn't uncommon for him to get burned when matched against superior receivers.

Veteran corner Mike Richardson was serviceable but there's no denying that he got worked in more than a few marquee games.

As for safety Chinedum Ndukwe, he demonstrated flashes of brilliance but too often his obvious athleticism didn't translate into making a huge difference on the field. Inexplicably, he tended to disappear at crucial times.

Now obviously, it would be shortsighted and imbecilic to lay the blame for the Irish shortcomings solely on the seniors. After all, this was a team effort and every class had its' hand in both the upside and the negative.

But given their stature, experience quotient and the leadership roles handed to them, the senior contingent must be held to a higher standard and as such, accept more responsibility for what happened, both pro and con. That's just the way it is.

So, in summary, as the seniors take their leave, they can take a certain amount of pride in knowing that they helped restore some of the luster that was lost during Ty Willingham's last two seasons. They were instrumental in making the Irish viable and once again relevant.

But that's where it stops. It goes no further than that.  They never played on a team for the ages. They never knew the experience of being among the elite. And that's not exactly the kind of legacy that will warm your heart and get you tingling inside when you grow old and grey.

Sad to say but in the big picture, ND's seniors never enjoyed that true senior moment. They never achieved that one defining victory. Unfortunately, they'll have to live with that reality.