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Dan Schneider, owner of Comet Cleaners in the Arroyo Plaza, holds some of his 2010 Sun Bowl tickets on Wednesday. "I'm super excited about the game," said Schneider, who is a Notre Dame alumnus. The Sun Bowl will be held Friday in El Paso. Notre Dame will be going head to head against the University of Miami.

LAS CRUCES - When the Mesilla Valley's few Notre Dame alumni heard their team would be headed to El Paso for the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, they vowed to give them a good welcome.

"We bought about 20 tickets that day," said Dan Schneider, a 1989 graduate (his wife, Vicky, graduated the year before).

The weather, predicted to be a savage day of freezing winds and game-day temperatures rising only into the 40s from an icy low of 20, should make Notre Dame fans feel right at home.

"This is going to be great," Schneider said. "It's once in a long time they're going to have something like this down here. We're very excited. We're going to tailgate and pretend we're in South Bend - it's going to be cold like in South Bend!"

Schneider, who owns the three Comet Cleaners in Las Cruces, is headed down with a contingent of about 30 fans of the Fighting Irish, and is hoping for a replay of the nail-biter he saw as an undergraduate.

"When I was there, this was a big rivalry - Notre Dame and Miami - and I was there as a senior in college when we beat Miami 31-30 and went on to win the national championship," he said. "Both teams are kind of on the comeback and we have a lot of talent, which makes it more fun."

The caravan will head down at dawn on Friday to set up their tailgating HQ.

"This is a real treat to have them down here," Schneider said. "We love the team and we're just thrilled. It's going to be fun."

Schneider's not the only one who predicts Miami will make

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Notre Dame work for a victory. Elvia Marrufo, a nutrition services worker who lives in Las Cruces, thinks both teams have their talents, but is rooting for Notre Dame. Marrufo was given tickets to the game for Christmas - an "awesome" present, she said.

"We're going to be tailgating, making fajitas and little tacos and my sister-in-law's boyfriend is making a huge pot of posole to take down there," Marrufo said. "It's going to be cold! That's the only thing that's freaking me out is the cold."

The former Boston resident is already digging out the long-johns, so she can enjoy the game in comfort.

"I've seen both Miami and Notre Dame play and I think it's going to be exciting, just to see two teams like that come to the Texas-New Mexico area, particularly," she said. "It's going to be awesome. I'm so excited, I have butterflies, and I never get like that for football."

Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.

Join the fun!

•What: Notre Dame Club and Union Plaza Association's Official Block Party

•When: 8:30 p.m. today

•Where: Union Plaza downtown entertainment district in El Paso at the following locations: 1914 Lounge, Black Pearl, Commonwealth, Republic, The Plum, The Garden and Union Drinkery. All eight bars and the entire block of Durango and parts of San Antonio and Western will be fenced in.

•Features: Children's play area, jumping balloons, obstacle course, face-painting, big-gloves boxing ring, live music by La Chapuza, Border Roots and mariachis.

•Cost: $10 or online at http://elpaso.undclub.org

•Information: (915) 726-3795