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Notre Dame vs USC: The Most Storied Intersectional Rivalry In College Football
- 5 Heisman Trophy winners who played for either USC or Notre Dame. Notre Dame leads the series with USC. The victory in 2024 was the Fighting Irish’s 50th against the Trojans.
- There have been 1.
- The 96th meeting between the Trojans and the Fighting Irish is set for Oct. 18 in South Bend.
No catchy nickname is linked with the annual clashes between Notre Dame and USC. However, it might be hard to find a series played as frequently as the one between the Fighting Irish and Trojans that featured as many Heisman Trophy winners and eventual national champions.
Unlike most top college football rivalries, the two combatants aren’t from neighboring states. More than 2000 miles are between the Notre Dame and Southern California campuses. That hasn’t stopped the Notre Dame vs USC rivalry from being one of the best in college football.
Notre Dame and USC have combined to win 24 national titles and 15 Heisman Trophies. The team and individual success make this one of the more compelling college football rivalries. It doesn’t take long to mention this series when ranking the top rivalries in college football.
The 96th meeting between Notre Dame and USC takes place on Oct. 18 in South Bend.
Let’s check in on the Notre Dame vs USC football rivalry.
Star Power Abounds In Notre Dame-USC Series
A Look At The Rivalry
Notre Dame had already won three of the program’s national championships before the first game against USC, which took place in 1926 in Los Angeles. The visiting Fighting Irish won 13-12.
The Fighting Irish won four of the first five meetings before the Trojans won in 1931, 1932 and 1933.
Notre Dame won 11 games in a row from 1983 to 1993 and had an unbeaten streak of 13 games against the Trojans that ended in 1995.
The Associated Press football poll debuted in 1936, and from 1937 to 1954, the winner of the game was ranked in the top 10 on 11 occasions.
USC’s best run in the series came from 1967 to 1982 when the Trojans were 12-2-2 versus Notre Dame. The Trojans did win eight games in a row against Notre Dame, but that streak ended in 2010. One of those games was vacated.
The USC vs Notre Dame games have taken place in September, October, November, and December, a big difference from other rivalries that tend to fall around the same time each season.
Is There A Trophy Presented To The Winner?
The Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles donated the Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy, which has been given to the winning team in the Notre Dame vs USC football game each year since 1952.
The timing was pretty good. While the Fighting Irish lead the series 50-37-5, since the trophy has gone to the winning squad, Notre Dame holds a 35-30-3 advantage, as USC has proven worthy of being one of the top Notre Dame rivals.
What Makes This Rivalry Unique?
Notre Dame and USC have never played in the same conference and aren’t close to each other. Both teams began the series to give themselves a tough opponent.
Notre Dame has recruited well in California, and playing at USC every other year doesn’t hurt its recruiting efforts in talent-laden California. This is much different from the legacy and tradition of the Iron Bowl rivalry, which features Alabama and Auburn teams that both reside in the state of Alabama.
The only years that the teams didn’t play were 1943 and 1945 because of World War II and 2020 because of the global pandemic.
It didn’t take long for this rivalry to catch on. The 1929 Notre Dame vs USC game was played at Soldier Field in Chicago, and more than 112,000 fans were in attendance.
Starting With A Bang
The legendary former Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne called Notre Dame’s 13-12 win over USC in 1926, the first game between the teams, the greatest game he ever saw.
From 1928 to 1932, either Notre Dame or USC won the national title.
In the early days of the Notre Dame vs USC rivalry, the teams traveled by train, which led some to suggest ending the series.
USC’s win in 1931 snapped Notre Dame’s 26-game unbeaten streak.
Moving ahead to the 1960s, legendary coaches John McKay of USC and Ara Parseghian took the USC vs Notre Dame rivalry to new levels.
Notre Dame was undefeated and sitting atop the polls in Parseghian’s first season before Notre Dame fell to USC 20-7 as the 11-point favorite.
The 1968 game ended in a 21-21 tie, and each team managed just 14 points the following season.
The 1974 game saw Notre Dame score the first 24 points before USC ripped off 55 unanswered points.
In 1988, Notre Dame topped USC in a matchup of the teams ranked first and second in the national polls.
A Classic That Can’t Be Erased
The record will show that USC’s 34-31 win in 2005 doesn’t count in the record books. Try telling that to the players, coaches, and fans who saw one heck of a game.
The clock ran down and expired when USC quarterback Matt Leinart fumbled the ball out of bounds with USC trailing late in the game.
Even with no replay system, officials put seven seconds on the clock. USC could have called a pass play and still kicked the tying field goal. Instead, the Trojans ran the ball, with running back Reggie Bush helping quarterback Leinart with a push from behind—a play not allowed in college football. The TD stood, with USC winning 34-31.
With all of its wins vacated during the 2005 season, USC faced NCAA penalties, so this will not go down as a victory for USC.
