In the long, illustrious history of Notre Dame football, for as many defining wins as the program has had, there have seemingly been just as many memorable losses that fans of the Fighting Irish could remind you of. The Bush Push. The 42-14 beatdown at the hands of Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game. The blown 24-7 4th quarter lead against Michigan in 2011. And then there's Northern Illinois, who went into South Bend and upset the 5th ranked Irish last Saturday.

For fans of the Fighting Irish, these are the sorts of losses they'd do anything to be able to forget. For Northern Illinois, the win at Notre Dame is the type of victory that the program would rightfully want to forever memorialize, and the good news is, the Huskies have already got a pretty unique way of doing so.

Notre Dame, welcome to the Boneyard.

Right in the center of the wall, which celebrates every win the Northern Illinois football program has scored over a Power Four conference team, the Huskies have added a new rawhide bone to commemorate their 16-14 win against Notre Dame. Of course, the Northern Illinois Football social media account isn't necessarily taking a direct shot at Notre Dame with this post, but this loss is certainly still fresh enough that any fans of the Irish wouldn't be too please that they're already being reminded about it.

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Now, after Northern Illinois scored their first win ever over a top five opponent, the question is, What's next? The Huskies were ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll at week's end, their first time earning this distinction since 2013. Only a season prior, the Huskies made program history when they became the first (and only) school from the MAC to play in a BCS Bowl game. Now, the Huskies have a clear pathway toward clinching a berth into the new 12-Team College Football Playoff.

As things stand right now, Northern Illinois is the only team outside of the Power Five that is ranked in the Top 25. If by season's end this still holds, and if the Huskies handle business in the MAC, then Northern Illinois will be one of the five conference champions to earn an automatic bid into the College Football Playoff. And to think, heading into their game against Notre Dame, it was the Irish who many were penciling in as a Playoff team.