The Rivalry between the University of Southern California and the University of Notre Dame is one of the most highly publicized, sensational rivals in the history of football. The USC Trojans and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have had a longstanding history of rival games since 1926. The trophy is the Jeweled Shillelagh and the current champions are USC but that doesn’t mean there won’t be further competitions between the two. These two teams are considered some of the most elite when it comes to football. Both the Trojans and the Fighting Irish have won 11 national championships and 7 Heisman Trophies so both teams are forces to be reckoned with.
The actual source associated with USC’s moniker, Trojan, goes back to 1912. Originally, the actual teams from the University associated with The southern California region had been referred to as Methodists or Wesleyans, names not popular with university authorities.
The first USC football team of 1888, actively played its very first game on November 14th against the Alliance Sports Club, gaining the 16–0 victory. Henry H. Goddard was a playing coach for that first group that was put together by quarterback Arthur Carroll. USC faced its very first collegiate opponent the year after playing St. Vincent’s University to 40–0 victory.
Between the Fighting Irish and the Trojans, the schools have garnered 22 national titles, 14 Heisman Trophy winners, and a total of 21 for All Americans, NFL Hall of Famers and College Football Hall of Famers. This rivalry has gained acclaim also as half of the ten most-watch college football games in the history of those on television. So how did this rivalry get started back in 1926? College football historian Murray Sperber claims that the rivalry was begun for political and financial reasons. The more popular story, however, is that USC was on the hunt for a national rival and that discussions between Notre Dame Head Coach Knute Rockne and USC Athletic Director Gywnn Wilson and their wives is how the rivalry came to be.
Games have been played in Los Angeles, Chicago and South Bend. Notre Dame has longstanding rivalries against Michigan, Michigan State, Navy and Purdue in addition to USC. Heisman Trophy winners include Angelo Bertelli, Johnny Lujack, Leon Hart, Johnny Lattner, Paul Hornung, John Huarte and Tim Brown. The eleven years that Notre Dame has won the National Championship are 1924, 1929, 1930, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1966, 1973, 1977 and 1988.
USC rivalries in addition to Notre Dame are UCLA. Retired numbers for the team are 20, 32, 12, 33, 3, 11 and 5. Heismann Trophy winners include Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Charles White, Marcus Allen, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. USC hold National Championships for 1928, 1931, 1932, 1939, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003 and 2004.The Notre Dame USC rivalry goes beyond the football field. In the movie, The Godfather Part II, Hyman Roth is watching the 158 Notre Dame USC game. And although the team has never played on Christmas Day, in the movie Die Hard, a security guard is watching a game between the two rivals. Perhaps a part of what has kept this rivalry so fascinating for fans on both sides is that there have been five games where there was a tie (1936, 1948, 1968, 1969 and 1994).Notre Dame holds the lead presently with 42 wins over USC, who has 34 to their credit. USC took the Jeweled Shillelagh home after the 2009 match up but Notre Dame leads the series 42-34-5 but USC has triumphed since 2002. Although this rivalry seems almost ancient, there actually have been only 81 games played between these two fantastic teams. The statistics are relatively close too, giving ample credence to how this rivalry has survived through the years.
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