By Alan Wasielewski
The greatest intersectional rivalry in college football will be played again on Saturday, October 14, 2023, when Southern Cal makes its annual visit to Notre Dame Stadium to take on the Fighting Irish. Since 1926 the two teams have met practically every year, missing just four seasons: 1943, ‘44 and ‘45 due to World War II travel restrictions and the 2020 meeting due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Each team has had its run of domination in the series. Each team has experienced epic comebacks, heart-breaking losses and huge victories. Each team has spoiled national championship hopes of the other – 14 times to be exact.
As the Trojans make the trip east for the fourth-consecutive night game for the Fighting Irish this season (a program first), here is a look at the Notre Dame – Southern Cal football series – By The Numbers.
0 – The 1961 season marked the first time Southern Cal would visit Notre Dame in mid-October, which replaced the late-November date SC begged their way out after the 1959 season. The timing switch didn’t help the Trojan offense, who were held to zero net rushing yards in a 30-0 Notre Dame victory.
2 – The Notre Dame – Southern Cal football series has ‘appeared’ in two legendary movies. In The Godfather Part II, Michael Corleone visits Hyman Roth as he is watching the 1958 edition of the rivalry. The movie Die Hard also features audio from a Notre Dame – Southern Cal game.
3 – Marc Edwards rushed for three touchdowns and 82 total yards in Notre Dame’s 38-10 thrashing of No. 5 Southern Cal in 1995.
4 – This rivalry has been filled with ‘revenge’ games. Notre Dame and Southern Cal have a habit of spoiling each other’s seasons and getting back at the other in the next meeting. The 1964 heart-breaking loss in Los Angeles was avenged the next season at home led by Irish fullback Larry Conjar’s four touchdowns and 116 rushing yards. Notre Dame handed SC their first loss of the 1965, 28-7.
5 – In the 1920s and 1930s, the two programs combined to win five consecutive national titles. SC earned the title designation in 1928, 1931 and 1932, while Notre Dame won the national championship in 1929 and 1930.
11 – Since the Associated Press began ranking teams in 1936, the Notre Dame – Southern Cal football rivalry has only occurred 11 times without either team ranked in the top 25. Of the 83 meetings since 1936, the two teams have met as top-10 ranked squads 15 times.
13 – From 1983 through 1996, a time frame that spanned almost the entirety of the Lou Holtz Era at Notre Dame, Southern Cal never won a game against Notre Dame. The streak began under Irish head coach Gerry Faust in ‘83 and included the epic No. 1 vs. No. 2 meeting in 1988 and one tie game in 1994. The Notre Dame win streak ended in overtime in 1996, a 27-20 Trojan victory, which would be the last game coached by Lou Holtz in South Bend.
14 – The Irish and Trojans have made a habit of spoiling each other’s bids for a national championship – 14 times to be exact. Notre Dame handed Southern Cal its first loss in 1927, 1947, 1952, 1973, 1988 and 1995. The Irish also tied SC in 1968 and 1969 providing the only blemish on the Trojan record that season. Southern Cal played the spoiler role in 1931, 1938, 1964, 1970, 1971 and 1980.
17 – With just under three minutes remaining and attempting to cap a 21-point rally in the ’99 meeting, Notre Dame quarterback Jarious Jackson was looking to cap off a 17-yard run to the Southern Cal goal line with a touchdown. He was hit by SC’s Kris Richard and fumbled the ball into the end zone, which was recovered by Irish tight end Jabari Holloway for the game-winning score. It was a fitting end to a crazy game in which the wind shifted to be at the back of Notre Dame for both the third and fourth quarter, the temperature dropping dramatically at halftime and both teams combining for six turnovers.
28 – In the 1977 ‘Green Jersey Game’ Notre Dame, led by Joe Montana, scored 28 consecutive points to rout the visiting Trojans. The legendary victory propelled Notre Dame to the national championship that season and secured the green jersey a special place in the history of Irish football.
36 – Robert Hughes carried the ball for 36 yards on Notre Dame’s game-winning touchdown drive in 2010 at Southern Cal. Hughes’ five-yard run to cap the drive proved to be one of the most cathartic plays for Notre Dame football in the rivalry with SC, as it ended an eight-game Trojan win streak.
51 – Notre Dame was coming off one of its ‘Game of the Centuries’ – the 10-10 tie with Michigan State – toward the end of the 1966 season. The Irish needed a signature victory to strengthen their claim to the national title and delivered in Los Angeles, routing the Trojans 51-0. Coley O’Brien made the most of his only collegiate start in the game, completing 21 of 31 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns.
85 – Eric Penick’s epic 85-yard touchdown run in the 1973 edition of the rivalry is still one of the greatest highlights for the Irish in the series with SC. Luther Bradley, who started the game with a thunderous hit of Southern Cal wideout Lynn Swann that sent Swann’s helmet flying through the end zone, sealed the 23-14 Notre Dame win with a late interception. Notre Dame would go on to defeat Alabama in the 1973 Sugar Bowl and earn the national title.
146 – Theo Riddick would end up rushing for 146 yards in the 2012 edition of the rivalry at Southern Cal. The 22-13 hard-fought outcome secured Notre Dame its first-ever BCS Championship game berth.
377 – Led by 191 rushing yards from Josh Adams – which included a stellar 84-yard scoring run – Notre Dame amassed 377 total rushing yards to rout No. 11 Southern Cal 49-14 in Notre Dame Stadium.
526 – The soft-rock hit ‘It Never Rains In Southern California’ was released by Albert Hammond in 1972. Perhaps it was an ironic ode to the 1970 ND-SC game, when a persistent and heavy night of rain played a part in spoiling yet another Notre Dame season in Los Angeles. Undefeated and set to play No. 2 Texas in the Cotton Bowl, the Irish would fall 38-28 and were plagued by turnovers, which included a fumble in their own end zone. Joe Thiesmann was undaunted through the torrential rain, however, throwing for a school-record 526 yards.
1964 – There have been painful losses for Notre Dame in Los Angeles, but the 1964, 30-27, loss to the Trojans might be the most agonizing of them all. In his first year at Notre Dame, Ara Parseghian had transformed a 2-7 team into an undefeated unit and entered the Coliseum as an 11-point favorite and one win away from a national championship. Two controversial calls from the officials, which included an inexplicable overturned fumble that granted SC possession to continue its drive for the game-winning touchdown, marred the outcome of the game and Parseghian’s bid for a national title in his first season at Notre Dame.
104,953 – The highest attendance for a football game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 104,953, witnessed 8-0 Notre Dame cruise past 7-0-1 SC, 38-7, to earn the national championship in 1947. Emil Sitko scored two touchdowns for the Irish, who scored 28 unanswered points in the second half.
120,000 – The estimated number of fans that attended the Notre Dame – Southern Cal game held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, in 1927. It is still considered to be the largest crowd to ever attend a college football game and the Irish fans left happy after a 7-6 Notre Dame win.