Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame And Usc Rival Has Longstanding History
It is the college football rival that's between University of Notre Dame and University of Southern California and it is one of the most highly publicized, sensational rivals in the history of football. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the USC Trojans 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 any more rivals between the two. These two teams are considered some of the most elite when it comes to football. Both the Fighting Irish and the Trojans have won 11 national championships and 7 Heisman Trophies so both teams are forces to be reckoned with.
Even back at the start of this rivalry it was regarded as one of the most important ones in college football. Sometimes referred to as the greatest intersectional rivalry because the winner has often continued on to play for the national title for college football.
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 been held rivalries against Michigan, Michigan State, Navy and Purdue in addition to USC. Heismann 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. Notre Dame does hold a longer winning streak, however with 11 in a row from 1983 to 1993. 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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