Notre Dame paid Northern Illinois big money to come beat them

Oct 17, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; General view of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo at midfield before a NCAA football game against the Southern California Trojans tat Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Losing at home to Northern Illinois on Saturday was pretty bad for Notre Dame. What’s even worse is that the Fighting Irish paid the Huskies to come beat them.

Notre Dame paid $1.4 million to Northern Illinois to come to Notre Dame Stadium for what was an expected loss for the MAC squad. These contests are termed “buy games” because the home favorite is typically buying a win. But that practice backfires in a big way when a team doesn’t come through with the win as expected.

In the end, the Irish were left with $1.4 million reasons to be embarrassed.

The 16-14 victory over the Fighting Irish was Northern Illinois’ first top-10 victory in their history. Now NIU is 2-0 and Notre Dame is 1-1.

Who saw that coming?