Holtz may be smarter than we give him credit.
Weis is really much more on the hot seat at Notre Dame than it appears outside. Faculty, staff, and alumni are really putting the pressure on the University to fire him. Four losses probably would be enough to see him fired. Administrators are afraid that they will be stuck with him after a two loss season.
If Holtz starts crying national championship, then the bar gets set higher rather than lower. If he says it enough, the spray alone may make it a slippery slope that Weis cannot climb.