It's honestly not that I did my homework, I just still follow the CDH football team quite a bit. I went to CDH, have good friends who still coach there, and probably have never met a better guy than Mike Scanlan.
From what i've heard, there was certainly a rift between the Mason regime CDH. Cretin didn't feel like it (or the entire) state was given respect by that staff. Supposedly, the CDH coaches would be in communications with those coaches and say something like "you know, we have this kid, he isn't recruited heavily, but we think he could eventually be a player. Are you interested in taking a look?" Supposedly, the Mason regime was rarely if ever interested.
Under Brewster, a lot of those kinds of kids have gotten a shot at the U. Willie Schneider and Zack Mottla (I believe they are both on scholly now) are guys who Brewster gave a shot to, and will eventually help the U. Mottla will probably be a starter in a year or so. Brewster didn't give these kids a shot because of Scanlan, he gave them a look (the respect a lot of MN coaches wanted) because of the advice of the CDH coaching staff.
At schools like Cretin and i'd assume Eden Praire, the coaches aren't the most protective of how the stars get recruited (Hendersons, Floyds, and Mobley's of the world) they are more concerned with trying to do the best for their entire program of kids. Under Brewster, (from what i've heard) those relationships are completely mended. (I think the last kid out of Cretin to go Big 10 and not the U was Joe Schafer).
As far as the Notre Dame argument, well, that very well might be. However, that isn't really a football thing. It is a situation where a lot of kids who go to Catholic High School continue with a Catholic education. St. Thomas is full of Cretin kids (athletes and non-athletes) and St. Johns is full of Cretin kids (again, athletes and non-athletes). Notre Dame has a distinct advantage because they are the premier Catholic school in the nation (certainly the midwest). You have kids who graduated from a private prestigious catholic HS known for football and they are naturally drawn to the college equivelent. So, I do agree that Notre Dame has an edge, however, I don't think that edge comes out of the football program, I think it is just a natural progression for a lot of kids who went (and thrived) at a private Catholic school.