![]() ![]() Trailing 17-0 at halftime, USC rallied to win, 20-17. Twice USC, in the last scheduled game of the season, has upset the Irish and cost them the national title. In 14 of the games, one of the teams went on to win a national title. No fewer than 11 Heisman Trophy winners - the award goes to college football's best player - have been produced by USC and Notre Dame. There are 42 emerald-studded shamrocks to represent the Notre Dame wins and 26 ruby-decorated Trojan heads for USC's victories. The winner will also earn a shillelagh trophy that, according to legend, was flown from Ireland by Howard Hughes' pilot. ![]() That's how it is with these two teams, each always expecting greatness, from themselves and from each other. The winner should receive an invitation to one of the nation's four biggest - and richest - postseason bowl games. 2 in the country, this game has huge meaning for both teams. The rivalry aside, for the first time since 1988, when Notre Dame was ranked No. And Notre Dame's 42 wins are the most by any USC opponent. Notre Dame leads the series 42-26-5, but those 26 Trojan victories are more than any other team has against the Fighting Irish. The schools will play, Saturday afternoon in the Coliseum, for the 74th time and for the 57th consecutive year. USC versus Notre Dame is arguably college football's greatest rivalry. And then there's that Trojan white horse, the sight of which nearly made a Notre Dame coach physically ill. Jersey colors have been changed, from Notre Dame's traditional blue to kelly green, in hopes of gaining a psychological edge, as in a notable 1977 game in South Bend, Ind. National titles have been won and lost players have made themselves Heisman Trophy winners. Notre Dame playing its starters until the bitter end, to preserve the shutout in a 51-0 win. USC falling behind 24-0, then scoring 55 unanswered points. A 56-yard, game-winning punt return by Notre Dame's Tim Brown. Six touchdowns in a game by USC's Anthony Davis. (Does not include 1 USC win vacated due to NCAA penalty original record: 37 Trojan heads.There are singular moments of individual glory, so many of them. There are now 48 shamrocks, 36 Trojan heads and 5 combined medallions on the shillelaghs. It contains medallions beginning with the 1990 game. When the original shillelagh ran out of space for the Trojan heads and shamrocks after the 1989 game, it was retired and is permanently displayed at Notre Dame.Ī new shillelagh - slightly longer than the original - was commissioned by Jim Gillis, a former baseball player at both USC and Notre Dame and a one-time president of the Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles, and handcrafted in 1997 in County Leitrim, Ireland. Although the shillelagh was introduced in 1952, the medallions go back to the start of the series in 1926. It was devised by the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles, based on a suggestion by Vern Rickard. The original shillelagh was flown from Ireland by Howard Hughes’ pilot, according to legend. Upon its initial presentation in 1952 by the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles, it was said that “this shillelagh will serve to symbolize in part the high tradition, the keen rivalry and above all the sincere respect which these two great universities have for each other.” On the end of the club is engraved, “From the Emerald Isle.” The victor of the Trojan-Irish game gains year-long possession of the trophy. For tie games, a combined Trojan head/shamrock medallion is used. The foot-long shillelagh has ruby-adorned Trojan heads with the year and game score representing USC victories, while emerald-studded shamrocks stand for Notre Dame wins. Those are the only woods used because, it is said, they are the only ones tougher than an Irish skull. A jeweled shillelagh is passed between the annual winner of the USC-Notre Dame game, perhaps the finest intersectional rivalry in college football.Ī shillelagh (pronounced “shuh-LAY-lee”) is a Gaelic war club made of oak or blackthorn saplings from Ireland. ![]()
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