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South Bend, Ind. • Putting together back-to-back strong seasons has been rare of late at Notre Dame.

Since going 10-1-1 in 1992 and 11-1 in 1993, the Irish have won at least nine games in consecutive seasons just once, going 9-3 and 10-3 in 2005 and 2006 in the first two seasons under Charlie Weis. Last season's 12-1 record, which included a blowout loss to Alabama in the national title game, was the first time the Irish have won at least nine games since then. It was the program's best record in nearly two decades.

Coach Brian Kelly said the Irish know the challenge ahead.

"We've worked very hard to put ourselves back into position to get back into the national spotlight. We have no intentions of giving that up," Kelly said Friday. "So the focus has been since the last game of last year is to get back to the top of the mountain. You don't get there easily. It takes a lot of work."

The Irish get to work Monday when they begin practicing for the first four days at a facility in Marion, a central Indiana city about 100 miles southeast of the Notre Dame campus. Kelly said the players won't have access to TVs and predicted that the local Wi-Fi will crash shortly after the players arrive.

"It's an opportunity for us to focus on football and each other," Kelly said.

Kelly said his contract situation won't be a distraction, saying a new deal is "imminent." Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick has said the school is working on a contract extension for Kelly, whose current deal runs through the 2016 season. Kelly, who interviewed for the Philadelphia Eagles job the day after the BCS game in January, said the basic deal for a contract has been in place since December.

"We have a contract and an agreement. We have people that are paid money to look at these contracts. They look at them very closely. They don't operate as quickly as I would like to. But there are no issues contractually," Kelly said.