Coach Jesse Harper supposedly initiated the action by boldly writing a letter to West Point requesting a game. In fact, Harper only answered a letter from Cadet Football Manager, Harold Loomis. [Editor's Note: Most historians, and Jesse Harper himself, state that he wrote the first letter to West Point]

Loomis was in a pickle. The Yale game had been cancelled for fear it would "take too much out of the boys." It was a little late in the year to start wiping teams off the slate. Anxious to plug the schedule, Loomis wrote to virtually every school that crossed his mind. Thanks to the machinations of three guys named Rockne, Dorais, and Bill Cotter, the Irish had just been signed to play baseball. Would they try football as well? Happily, Notre Dame had an open date on November 1, and the game was on.

After some initial grumbling, Army coughed up the $1,000 guarantee Harper demanded. (These same Army guys, who balked at spending $1,000, later went to the Pentagon and could ask Congress for a billion without batting an eyelid.) The point was, Eastern teams usually paid their own way. But impoverished Notre Dame was in no position to put on airs. To save money, the boys packed their own lunches and boarded a railroad day coach to the East. Every player carried his own equipment, not an easy task since most did not own a suitcase. Did we say impoverished? Some of the Irish were wearing football shoes sans cleats. It was the best they could do.