Notre Dame vs USC Rivalry

USC vs. Notre Dame

When you wonder what makes the rivalry of USC vs. Notre Dame as good as it is all you have to do is look at the two universities respective records.  No team has beaten USC more than Notre Dame has.  No team has beaten Notre Dame more than USC has.  With such a distinction a rivalry is bound to exist. 

The battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh, the trophy which goes to the winner, began in 1926.  Supposedly, the game began due to a conversation between the USC athletic director’s wife and Notre Dame Head Coach Knute Rockne’s wife.  USC was trying to find someone to start a rivalry with.  After travelling to Lincoln, Nebraska, to talk with Rockne after his game against the Cornhuskers, it appeared that USC would be out of luck; Rockne did not like the idea of having to travel so far.  Then the wives got together.  Gwynn Wilson, the USC athletic director’s wife, asked Mrs. Rockne which she would rather do- travel to cold, snow covered Lincoln every other year for a game or out to sunny California instead.  Mrs. Rockne spoke with her husband and a rivalry was born.

Notre Dame holds the series lead 42-32-5.  The teams have played every year since the inception of the game with the exception of three years during World War II from ’42-’44.  Success has been bread from the USC vs. Notre Dame rivalry.  Over the last forty years the teams have combined for nine national championships and eleven Heisman winners.  Each school has been national champions eleven times and has been home to seven Heisman winners each. 

Games between the two have often had a decided factor on the national championship.  The ’64 contest saw USC battle back from a seventeen point halftime deficit to win 20-17 against then number one Notre Dame.  In 1988, Lou Holtz left two of his star players at home even though he was going across the country to play the number two team in USC.  Notre Dame went onto win 27-10 and protect their number one ranking.

The game has only gone to overtime once, in 1996.  The game has often garnered national television attention for its competiveness having been decided within the last two minutes on ten different occasions.  USC has dominated the series lately having won the last six contests.  With Notre Dame’s current struggles that streak does not appear to be in any jeopardy.  The USC vs. Notre Dame game is sure to be hotly contested anyway.

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