JACKSONVILLE, FLA. ? Two months ago, Notre Dame and North Carolina State had reason to believe they would be somewhere other than the Gator Bowl.

The Wolfpack were 9-0 and ranked No. 10, with an outside chance of playing for a national title and realistic hopes of winning their first ACC title in 23 years.

The Irish were even better.

Coming off their second losing season in three years, they were 8-0 and ranked No. 4 under new coach Tyrone Willingham, and again Notre Dame was the talk of the country.

Late-season slides knocked both of them out of the Bowl Championship Series. Shane Walton, the All-American cornerback for the Irish, didn’t try to disguise his disappointment.

“I’d love to play for a national championship. Anybody would,” he said Tuesday. “Otherwise, someone would be a fool.”

That doesn’t make the Gator Bowl insignificant to either team.

Despite their remarkable rebound from a 5-6 season, the 11th-ranked Irish (10-2) are still smarting from a 44-13 loss to Southern California, when they gave up a school-record 610 yards and helped Trojan quarterback Carson Palmer win the Heisman Trophy.

Asked if he still had a sour taste over the loss, Willingham replied, “In four weeks, you can lose your taste buds.”

“This bowl game is a great opportunity,” he said. “We’ve had a fine season. This gives us a chance to really finish the season in the right manner.”

The 17th-ranked Wolfpack (10-3) lost three straight games by a combined 15 points, wasting a great opportunity to win the ACC and qualify for the BCS.

Still, it was the first 10-win season in the 111 years of North Carolina State football. That included a second consecutive victory over Florida State, which could signal a changing of the guard in the ACC.

“We feel we’re right there on the edge,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “It would really spark us for next year and the years to come. We’ve put ourselves on the map but this will make the dot bigger.”