Notre Dame – USC football rivalry The Notre Dame – USC football rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the USC Trojans , customarily on the Saturday following Thanksgiving Day when the game is played in Los Angeles , or usually on the third Saturday of October when the game is played in South Bend . Notre Dame and USC have traditionally been counted among the elite programs in college football , with each school having won 11 national championships and 7 Heisman Trophies . This football rivalry , which began in 1926 , is considered one of the most important in college football , and is often called the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football . Several times , the winner of this series has gone on to win or play for the college football national title . Both schools combined have produced the most national titles ( 22 ) , Heisman trophy winners ( 14 ) , All - Americans , College Football Hall of Fame rs and future NFL Hall of Fame rs ( 21 ) of any collegiate football rivalry series . The rivals account for the highest numbers of players taken in the NFL Draft of any school ; USC , with 472 draftees ranks No . 1 and Notre Dame , with 469 , ranks second . Also of note is that ND and USC games count for five of the ten most - watched college football games in television history . The teams play for the Jeweled Shillelagh , a trophy that goes home with the winning team each year . Notre Dame currently leads the series 44 - 35 - 5 , including a 2005 USC victory vacated due to NCAA penalty . Series facts . † These two were the only instances in which the losing team scored over 28 points . While Notre Dame and USC have defeated the other in landmark games enabling one of them to move onto a national title , the two teams have also played spoiler to each other several times . Notre Dame – # 1 undefeated Notre Dame beat # 2 undefeated USC in the Coliseum en route to the national title in 1988 . The Irish also spoiled Trojan title campaigns by giving them their first loss in the last game of the season in 1947 and 1952 , as well as handing them a first loss in 1927 , 1973 and 1995 . They also tied # 1 ranked USC in 1968 , 21 - 21 , knocking them down to # 2 behind Ohio State ( who then beat USC in a 1 vs . 2 matchup in the Rose Bowl ) . USC – Spoiled legitimate Irish title hopes in 1938 , 1964 , 1970 , 1980 and tying them in 1948 ( swaying the AP vote to Michigan ) . Each game came in the final week of the season . USC also spoiled Irish campaigns in 1931 and 1971 . Series history . Origins . Conversation between wives . The origin of the series is quite often recounted as a " conversation between wives " of Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne and USC athletic director Gywnn Wilson . In fact , many sports writers often cite this popular story as the main reason the two schools decided to play one another . As the story goes , the rivalry began with USC looking for a national rival . USC dispatched Wilson and his wife to Lincoln , Nebraska , where Notre Dame was playing Nebraska on Thanksgiving Day . On that day ( Nebraska 17 , Notre Dame 0 ) Knute Rockne resisted the idea of a home - and - home series with USC because of the travel involved , but Mrs . Wilson was able to persuade Mrs . Rockne that a trip every two years to sunny Southern California was better than one to snowy , hostile Nebraska . Mrs . Rockne spoke to her husband and on December 4 , 1926 , USC became an annual fixture on Notre Dame ' s schedule . Another tale . While the " wives story " remains the classic explanation for starting the series , college football historian Murray Sperber , who in researching his book on the early days of Notre Dame football , " Shake Down the Thunder " , uncovered a different explanation for the creation of the series that somewhat contradicts the story . Sperber documents that the series was created primarily for financial and political reasons , and that Rockne ' s resistance to the series is misstated . During the 1920s , many college institutions , including the Big Ten ( then called the Western Conference ) , sought to combat the commercialism that was steadily increasing in college athletics . Part of the concern over commercialism stemmed from the large money payouts teams would receive by traveling long distances to play in Bowl Games . Meanwhile , Notre Dame had difficulty scheduling local Western Conference opponents because of a ban placed on member schools from playing them . The Irish were initially forced to seek out opponents nationally to fill its schedule , often traveling far away to do so . After Notre Dame started winning landmark games against college behemoths such as Yale and Army , Notre Dame started to grow in popularity and could command more money for games it scheduled . Notre Dame garnered interest from the Rose Bowl Committee to have Notre Dame come and play a Pacific Coast Conference ( now Pac - 12 ) opponent for the 1924 football season . Coach Rockne and the Notre Dame administration realized how lucrative an annual trip to Los Angeles would be for the football program . Notre Dame ' s West Coast alumni began lobbying Rockne to bring the team to the Rose Bowl as a season finale every year . The Rose Bowl Committee favored this arrangement ( at the time there was no tie in with the Big Ten ) ; however , the Pacific Coast Conference had reservations . Specifically , two members schools , Stanford and California refused to play Notre Dame " on account of [ Notre Dame ' s ] low scholastic standards . " Since Notre Dame was a Catholic school , its academics were considered inferior at the time . USC ' s coach , Gus Henderson reached out to Rockne through correspondence stating that " USC would welcome the chance to play Notre Dame New Year ' s Day in Pasadena . " While Rockne favored playing USC , Stanford , which won the Pacific Coast Conference title , had first choice and eventually realized that playing Notre Dame would be lucrative , and the two played in the 1925 Rose Bowl . The series between Notre Dame and USC was created because of the still - existing desire for Notre Dame to travel to Los Angeles to please its alums and earn a large payout , as well as the still - standing invitation to play them from Coach Henderson . While the creation of the series was contradictory to Notre Dame ' s efforts to follow the Big Ten in combating commercialism ( the Big Ten had a 26 - year Bowl ban , which Notre Dame followed even longer ) , Rockne and other administrators justified the game since it was created as a home - and - home series , only to be played in Los Angeles every other year . The creation of the series was also likely influenced by the hiring of Howard Jones , who knew Rockne from coaching against him at Iowa . Knute Rockne – Howard Jones connection . Another factor in the creation of the series is the connection between both schools ' coaches , Knute Rockne and Howard Jones . Following Notre Dame ' s 1924 championship season , Rockne was approached by USC to take over its football program . Rockne would often entertain such advances and let the news slip out to the Notre Dame administration in order to get a raise and bolster his position internally and nationally . While Rockne ultimately turned down the offer , he recommended that USC look at his friend Howard Jones , whom he knew from taking his Notre Dame teams to play Iowa . Barry LeBrock , author of " The Trojan Ten " , also confirms that Rockne lent the Trojans a helping hand in recommending that they consider hiring Iowa ' s coach Howard Jones , after USC fired " Gloomy Gus " Henderson . The creation of the series was likely influenced by their friendship , and by Jones ' desire to take USC to Notre Dame ' s elite level . The early years . Notre Dame and USC played their first game in 1926 , a 13 - 12 win for the Irish . Rockne was quoted as saying it was the greatest game he ever saw . The following year , Notre Dame and USC would play a memorable game at Soldier Field in Chicago , a slim 7 - 6 Irish victory . An estimated 120 , 000 people were in attendance , a crowd that is considered to be one of the largest attended games in NCAA history . USC ' s first win in the series also came during the same year they won their first national title in 1928 . From 1928 - 1932 , USC and Notre Dame combined to win the national title five straight years , with USC winning in 1928 , 1931 and 1932 , and Notre Dame winning in 1929 and 1930 . During this period , there was some talk of canceling the series , due to the long amount of travel time it took by train from South Bend to Los Angeles . Rockne argued for the series against the Notre Dame faculty board and its chair , Father Mulcaire , countering that " he saw the day coming when most college teams will be going by air exclusively . . . " Notable Games : 1940s - 1950s . The 1940s were good for the Irish , which earned national titles in 1943 , 1946 , 1947 and 1949 . Meanwhile , USC was fielding competitive teams , but none of title caliber . Still , this era provided some memorable games , with USC playing spoiler to the Irish in 1948 . Notable Games : 1960s - 1982 . The 1960 - 1982 period is considered by most fans to be the golden age of the rivalry , as Notre Dame and USC combined to win eight national titles . Notre Dame won national titles in the 1966 , 1973 , and 1977 seasons ; USC won titles in 1962 , 1967 , 1972 , 1974 , and 1978 . USC also played spoiler to Notre Dame in the 1964 season , costing them a chance at the national title . The rivalry was equally intense between USC coach John McKay and Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian . Notable Games : 1983 - 1995 - Notre Dame ' s " Decade of Dominance " . From 1983 to 1993 , Notre Dame entered an unprecedented run of success in the series , beating USC 11 straight times . Including a 1994 tie , USC did not beat Notre Dame until 1996 , going 13 years without a win . Despite the one - sided nature of the series during this time period , the rivalry still produced several memorable games , including the series ' first and only # 1 vs # 2 matchup to date . Notable Games : 1996 - 2001 - . 500 . For a six year period , USC and Notre Dame went . 500 against each other , with Southern California winning the first three games and Notre Dame winning the last three . The 2001 Notre Dame victory was also their last until their 2010 defeat of the Trojans . Notable Games : 2002 - 2011 - USC ' s Dominance . From 2002 - 2011 , USC defeated Notre Dame nine of ten times , including a string of eight straight victories , in some games winning in a lopsided fashion unprecedented in the series . Despite the one - sided nature of this stretch , the series still produced a classic game in 2005 . Notable Games : This game reestablished USC on a national level after a decade - long absence from the elite ranks . The Trojans had not played in such a high stakes game since the 1988 No . 1 vs . No . 2 loss to the Irish . The victory for the Trojans helped them clinch their first - ever BCS bowl berth and established Trojan quarterback Carson Palmer as a Heisman Trophy candidate , which he eventually won . The game culminated USC ' s most successful season since 1979 . A capacity crowd and a national television audience saw USC quarterback Carson Palmer throw for 425 yards and four touchdowns — then Notre Dame opponent records . Palmer led the Trojan offense to 610 total yards , the most yards ever against the Irish . Notre Dame briefly took a 13 - 10 lead , but Palmer led the Trojans on a 75 - yard drive in just over a minute culminating in a pass that sailed over the outstretched hands of two Irish defenders and into the waiting arms of Mike Williams for a 19 - yard touchdown . The Trojans sprinted into the locker room with a 17 - 13 halftime lead and never looked back . USC ' s 44 points were the most against the Irish by a USC team since Troy ' s 55 - 24 victory in 1974 . After beating the Irish by 31 points each of the past three years , the Trojans came into South Bend to meet Notre Dame and first - year head coach Charlie Weis . The Irish players entered the stadium before the game wearing green jerseys , and put the crowd into a frenzy . A close game throughout , the Irish took the lead with two minutes left on a Brady Quinn touchdown run . The Trojans stormed back after a 4th and 9 pass by Matt Leinart to Dwayne Jarrett that brought the ball inside the ND 15 yard line . As Leinart scrambled and tried to dive into the endzone , he was hit hard short of the goal line , and the ball was knocked out of bounds with 7 seconds to go . However , the clock continued to count down , and after it hit zero , the Irish fans began to storm the field . There was no replay in this game , at the request of coach Pete Carroll , but after huddling , the officials spotted the ball on the one - yard line and put 7 seconds back on the clock . On the next play , instead of securing a tie that would have resulted in overtime , the Trojan offense surprised the Irish by running the ball . Trojan running back Reggie Bush pushed Matt Leinart , but although technically against the rules at that time , referees seldom , if ever , made that call . Weis said he would hope his running back would make a play like that in a similar situation . The Trojans went on to face the Texas Longhorns in the BCS championship game , losing in an equally thrilling fashion . In 2010 , USC was sanctioned by the NCAA for displaying a lack of institutional control for its football , men ' s basketball and women ' s tennis programs . As a result , all USC football victories from December 2004 through the 2005 season were vacated , including this classic game . These sanctions have been criticized by some NCAA football writers , including ESPN ’ s Ted Miller , who wrote , “ It ' s become an accepted fact among informed college football observers that the NCAA sanctions against USC were a travesty of justice , and the NCAA ’ s refusal to revisit that travesty are a massive act of cowardice on the part of the organization . ” This was the largest margin of victory the Trojans have put forth on the Irish . It was also their first shutout against them since 1998 . USC came into this game 5 - 1 , while Notre Dame came in 1 - 6 . Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis announced during that summer that his team would wear throwback green jerseys for the matchup , signifying the 30 - year anniversary of the Irish beating the Trojans in their green jerseys in 1977 , when Weis was a senior at Notre Dame . Because of John David Booty ' s injured finger , USC back - up quarterback , Mark Sanchez , was the starter . In his second game as a starter , Sanchez managed to complete 21 of 38 passes with a combined total of 235 yards and 4 touchdown passes . This was the Trojans ' 6th consecutive victory over the Irish as well . In the process , they became only the third team to accomplish this feat ( Michigan and Michigan State share the record with eight straight wins in non consecutive years ) . For the first time since 1941 , both teams faced each other with first - year head coaches - who had never met and did not know each other . With the Irish coming off of two stellar performances against # 14 Utah and Army ( 27 - 3 at Yankee Stadium ) , Notre Dame was riding high , while USC was one week removed from one of their most one - sided defeats in the last decade , a 36 - 7 loss to the Oregon State Beavers and would be starting fifth - year senior and backup QB Mitch Mustain for the first time due to an injury to starter Matt Barkley . Three key touchdown drives all taking place in the last three minutes of either half and a dropped pass by Ronald Johnson with a little over a minute remaining in the game led the Irish to their first victory over USC since 2001 . They would go on to defeat Miami in the Sun Bowl and finish 8 - 5 under new coach Brian Kelly . USC defeated Notre Dame on the road for an unprecedented fifth straight win in South Bend . It was the first night game played in South Bend in 21 years . The turning point came in the third quarter . Down , 17 - 10 , Notre Dame drove all the way to the USC 1 - yard - line and were poised to tie the score when a fumbled snap from center was returned the other way for a touchdown by USC ' s Jawanza Starling to make it 24 - 10 . For the game , Notre Dame debuted a shiny gold helmet . Nearly 50 recruits attended the game . Going into the game , the teams found themselves in an unforeseen reversal of preseason expectations . Notre Dame was ranked # 1 in the AP poll after being unranked in that poll to start the season , while USC entered the game unranked after starting the season as the preseason # 1 team . With a balanced offensive attack and several late goal - line stands on defense , Notre Dame won the game 22 - 13 . The Irish held on to their # 1 BCS ranking and propelled themselves to the BCS Championship Game in Miami . With more than 16 million viewers , it was the most - watched regular - season college football game since 2006 and the most - viewed ABC Saturday night game ever . Game results . < nowiki > * < / nowiki >