CHAPEL HILL – For the eighteenth time in North Carolina’s football history, a top-five team will venture into Kenan Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Second-ranked Notre Dame will bring its 8-0 mark among the pines and take on a growing and hungry UNC team and program looking to do something only one previous Tar Heel team has ever achieved: Win a game at home over a club ranked in the top five.

Connor Barth’s 42-yard field goal as time expired defeated No. 4 Miami, 31-28, in 2004, and other than that, the Tar Heels have come up empty in these highly anticipated matchups. Thus, UNC is 1-16 at home versus top-five teams.

That Carolina squad wobbled its way to one of two bowl appearances in the six-season John Bunting era. The current UNC team, however, is looking to take another step toward what it believes is its destination, as national relevance is Mack Brown’s clear mission.

But with that in mind, UNC’s Hall of Fame coach is keenly aware of the vastly different football landscapes between South Bend and Tobacco Road.

“I'm really approaching it just to look at it and see where we are nationally," Brown said during his weekly press conference Monday. "We know where Notre Dame is. They're one of the best teams in the country. They're probably a playoff team. Right now, people would project they'll definitely be in the ACC championship game. They've dominated most of the teams they've played.

"So, everybody knows where Notre Dame is. Nobody knows where we are."

Carolina has hit its head against the national football ceiling several times in the past but has never broken through. A win Friday doesn’t necessarily mean such a move has occurred, but it certainly would indicate the program’s ascent that began with Brown’s hiring 24 months ago is unobstructed and right on track.

It would also flip the script from a perplexing loss at Florida State and a surprising one at Virginia last month, which in a three-week span sent the Tar Heels from a No. 5 national ranking to complete absence from the Associated Press poll.

This a huge opportunity for the Heels. Not only is it the No. 2 team in the land and on exclusive national TV on ABC, but it’s Notre Dame. The Holy Grail of college football and perhaps, along with the New York Yankees, of American sports.

Notre Dame has 11 national championships and seven Heisman Trophy winners. It’s Knute Rockne, The Four Horsemen, Touchdown Jesus, “Rudy” and so much more. It’s current club is pretty good, too.

“The emotions are probably a little bit higher because we're playing a team like Notre Dame,” UNC quarterback Sam Howell said. “They deserve all the respect they've been given. It's a great challenge for our team and I'm excited to see how we hold up against them.”

When the teams line up on the field, however, it’s still just football, and the Tar Heels believe they are ready for such a lofty challenge.

“I saw them play against Clemson on TV and the atmosphere was crazy,” senior running back Michael Carter said. “As far as film goes, I think they’re a really good team. I don’t think they have any weak links, so it’s just a matter of doing our job.”

Doing their job well enough to notch a victory is quite a task, but UNC’s offense gives it a chance.

Carolina is averaging 51 points over its last four games and boasts the No. 4 offense in the nation averaging 563 yards per contest. Both of UNC’s running backs average more than 100 yards per outing and seven yards per attempt. Howell is one of the top quarterbacks in the nation and has thrown for 61 touchdowns in just 21 college games.

Interestingly, Howell is seventh in the nation with a 67.8 percent connection rate on passes thrown at least 15 yards downfield. Among his 23 touchdown passes on the season, 10 have come on those balls. Notre Dame, however, has allowed 27 completed passes thrown 20 or more yards down field, which is 3.4 per contest. So Carolina will look to exploit that part of the Irish's defense.

Fighting Irish Coach Brian Kelly says UNC’s potent offense could be trouble.

“They have schemes for everything,” Kelly said during his weekly press conference. “We have to do a good job of keeping them to minimum gains. They’re going to move the ball.”

Howell shares the same sentiment. He’s confident Carolina will be ready to go once the game kicks off.

“We definitely have a lot of confidence that we can score as many points as it takes to win,” Howell said. “We are going to have a really good plan.”

It will take that and a near-impeccable execution on UNC’s part to slay one of the nation’s premier teams and programs. Carolina’s struggling defense will have to do its part, too. But if anything has proven true so far this season, it’s Howell and the offense can do whatever it takes to win games.

Friday, it must be at its very best to improve to 2-16 at home versus top-five football teams.