1. That is very small sampling size 2. ND recruiting fell off significantly in that same period in comparison to years prior. 3. Even in that 20 year window you referenced, one would be hard pressed to say that recruiting was top-notch. Many over-rated classes/players.
My assertion is simple. For Notre Dame (a tiny, private, Catholic school with no regional fan base) to stand out among its competitors during recruiting, they need to create a marriage of sport and academics. To sell this product, in this period in time, ND needs to be unique. ND will not distinguish itself among elite talent if the football product is substandard and the academics/networking/alumni status, etc is superb. On the contrary, if the football team is superb and the academics (professional opportunities) are mediocre (like most of our competitors) our product is once again "not special" or "not unique." They do not need to be mutually exclusive and both need to be present and functioning at a high level.
Notre Dame is ranked the 15th best university in the world and the best Catholic University nationally. There is something to be said for this. If they can find a way to combine National Championship quality football to this, as done in the past, they will possess a truly special product to offer any young man and his family.
Furthermore, Father Riehle once purported, decades ago, that ND would not have been prestigious nor popular had it not been for "big time" football. Another tough pill to swallow for some, but true nonetheless The status Notre Dame has achieved today as an institution is only possible because of its football history. Without it, we're just another tiny Catholic school in the Midwestern U.S.
Finally, the more the football team plays average or shoddy football on an annual basis, the more the "4 for 40 campaign" appears artificial and phony. This sort of insidiousness will only hurt recruiting, not buttress it.