# Northwestern–Notre Dame football rivalry

The Northwestern–Notre Dame football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Northwestern Wildcats and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

## History

Starting in the 1920s, Northwestern and Notre Dame played for a Shillelagh until the mid-1970s. The trophy game was created at the behest of Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne, who wanted a rivalry in the Chicago metropolitan area to help build Notre Dame's fanbase there.
The game decided the national championship in 1930, and Notre Dame victories cost Northwestern national championships in 1926 and 1936. The two schools stopped playing regularly in the 1970s, though the rivalry was renewed from 1992 to 1995. When Northwestern stunned No. 8 Notre Dame 17–15 as a 28-point underdog in 1995, the Chicago Sun-Times billed it as the "Upset of the Century."
In 2014, the rivalry was renewed in a two-game series, with Northwestern winning 43–40 in overtime in South Bend. It gave Northwestern only their second winning streak against the Irish since they won four straight from 1959–62. Notre Dame traveled to Evanston in November 2018 for their first encounter on the Wildcats' home turf since 1976. The Fighting Irish got their revenge for the Wildcats overtime upset in South Bend four years prior, winning 31–21 at Ryan Field. Notre Dame leads the series 38–9–2.

## Game results

| Northwestern victories | Notre Dame victories | Tie games |
| No. | Date | Location | Winning team | Winning team | Losing team | Losing team |
| 1 | November 14, 1889 | Evanston, IL | Notre Dame | 9 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 2 | October 28, 1899 | South Bend, IN | Notre Dame | 12 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 3 | October 12, 1901 | Evanston, IL | Northwestern | 2 | Notre Dame | 0 |
| 4 | November 14, 1903 | Chicago, IL | Tie | 0 | Tie | 0 |
| 5 | November 20, 1920 | Evanston, IL | Notre Dame | 33 | Northwestern | 7 |
| 6 | November 22, 1924 | Evanston, IL | Notre Dame | 13 | Northwestern | 6 |
| 7 | November 21, 1925 | South Bend, IN | Notre Dame | 13 | Northwestern | 10 |
| 8 | October 23, 1926 | Evanston, IL | Notre Dame | 6 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 9 | November 23, 1929 | Evanston, IL | Notre Dame | 26 | Northwestern | 6 |
| 10 | November 22, 1930 | Evanston, IL | Notre Dame | 14 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 11 | October 10, 1931 | Evanston, IL | Tie | 0 | Tie | 0 |
| 12 | November 12, 1932 | Evanston, IL | Notre Dame | 21 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 13 | November 18, 1933 | Evanston, IL | Notre Dame | 7 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 14 | November 17, 1934 | Evanston, IL | Notre Dame | 20 | Northwestern | 7 |
| 15 | November 9, 1935 | South Bend, IN | Northwestern | 14 | Notre Dame | 7 |
| 16 | November 21, 1936 | South Bend, IN | #11 Notre Dame | 26 | Northwestern | 6 |
| 17 | November 20, 1937 | Evanston, IL | #12 Notre Dame | 7 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 18 | November 19, 1938 | Evanston, IL | #1 Notre Dame | 9 | Northwestern | 7 |
| 19 | November 18, 1939 | South Bend, IN | #9 Notre Dame | 7 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 20 | November 23, 1940 | Evanston, IL | #10 Northwestern | 20 | Notre Dame | 0 |
| 21 | November 15, 1941 | Evanston, IL | #5 Notre Dame | 7 | Northwestern | 6 |
| 22 | November 21, 1942 | South Bend, IN | #8 Notre Dame | 27 | Northwestern | 20 |
| 23 | November 13, 1943 | Evanston, IL | #1 Notre Dame | 25 | #8 Northwestern | 6 |
| 24 | November 18, 1944 | South Bend, IN | #11 Notre Dame | 21 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 25 | November 17, 1945 | Evanston, IL | #7 Notre Dame | 34 | Northwestern | 7 |
| No. | Date | Location | Winning team | Winning team | Losing team | Losing team |
| 26 | November 16, 1946 | South Bend, IN | #2 Notre Dame | 27 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 27 | November 15, 1947 | Evanston, IL | #1 Notre Dame | 26 | Northwestern | 19 |
| 28 | November 13, 1948 | South Bend, IN | #2 Notre Dame | 12 | #8 Northwestern | 7 |
| 29 | October 24, 1959 | South Bend, IN | #2 Northwestern | 30 | Notre Dame | 24 |
| 30 | October 22, 1960 | Evanston, IL | Northwestern | 7 | Notre Dame | 6 |
| 31 | October 28, 1961 | South Bend, IN | Northwestern | 12 | #8 Notre Dame | 10 |
| 32 | October 27, 1962 | Evanston, IL | #3 Northwestern | 35 | Notre Dame | 6 |
| 33 | October 2, 1965 | South Bend, IN | #8 Notre Dame | 38 | Northwestern | 7 |
| 34 | October 1, 1966 | Evanston, IL | #4 Notre Dame | 35 | Northwestern | 7 |
| 35 | October 12, 1968 | South Bend, IN | #5 Notre Dame | 27 | Northwestern | 7 |
| 36 | September 20, 1969 | South Bend, IN | #11 Notre Dame | 35 | Northwestern | 10 |
| 37 | September 19, 1970 | Evanston, IL | #6 Notre Dame | 35 | Northwestern | 14 |
| 38 | September 18, 1971 | South Bend, IN | #2 Notre Dame | 50 | Northwestern | 7 |
| 39 | September 23, 1972 | Evanston, IL | #13 Notre Dame | 37 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 40 | September 22, 1973 | South Bend, IN | #8 Notre Dame | 44 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 41 | September 21, 1974 | Evanston, IL | #1 Notre Dame | 49 | Northwestern | 3 |
| 42 | September 27, 1975 | South Bend, IN | #7 Notre Dame | 31 | Northwestern | 7 |
| 43 | September 25, 1976 | Evanston, IL | Notre Dame | 48 | Northwestern | 0 |
| 44 | September 5, 1992 | Chicago, IL | #3 Notre Dame | 42 | Northwestern | 7 |
| 45 | September 4, 1993 | South Bend, IN | #7 Notre Dame | 27 | Northwestern | 12 |
| 46 | September 3, 1994 | Chicago, IL | #3 Notre Dame | 42 | Northwestern | 15 |
| 47 | September 2, 1995 | South Bend, IN | Northwestern | 17 | #8 Notre Dame | 15 |
| 48 | November 15, 2014 | South Bend, IN | Northwestern | 43 | #18 Notre Dame | 40$^{OT}$ |
| 49 | November 3, 2018 | Evanston, IL | #4 Notre Dame | 31 | Northwestern | 21 |
| Series: Notre Dame leads 38–9–2 |||||||