Notre Dame Fighting Irish football rivalries

USC rivalry

The Notre Dame-USC rivalry has been played annually since 1926, except for a brief repose during World War II. In recent years, the game alternates between South Bend in mid-October and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, USC's home field, in late November. Originally the game was played in both locations in late November, but because the poor weather during that time of the year at South Bend, USC insisted on having the game moved to October in 1961. There have been many memorable games. In 1964 Notre Dame was attempting to complete a perfect season and was heavily favored, but USC after trailing 17-0 at halftime won the game 20-17 to ruin the Irish's hopes of a National Championship. In 1966 undefeated Notre Dame, following its controversial 10-10 tie with Michigan State, beat the Trojans 51-0 which was enough to impress voters to give the Irish the number one ranking. In 1988 both teams entered the game undefeated and Notre Dame emerged on top 27-10 on its way to the National Championship. In 2005 Southern Cal came through with a dramatic last minute drive which culminated with a touchdown on the final play of the game to win 34-31. Notre Dame dominated the series from 1983-1995 compiling a record of 12-0-1 including 11 straight victories.

Through the 2005 season, Notre Dame leads 42-30-5.

The Shillelagh

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USC-Notre Dame Jeweled Shillelagh.

A jeweled shillelagh is passed between the annual winner of the USC - Notre Dame game, perhaps the finest intersectional rivalry in college football.

A shillelagh (pronounced "shuh-LAY-lee") is a Gaelic war club made of oak or blackthorn saplings from Ireland. Those are the only woods used because, it is said, they are the only ones tougher than an Irish skull.

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. For tie games, a combined Trojan head/shamrock medallion is used. 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.

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."

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USC - Notre Dame Game 2005, "The Bush Push"

The original shillelagh was flown from Ireland by Howard Hughes' pilot, according to legend. It was devised by the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles, based on a suggestion by Vern Rickard. John Groen designed it. Although the shillelagh was introduced in 1952, the medallions go back to the start of the series in 1926.

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.

A 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. It contains medallions beginning with the 1990 game.

There are now 42 shamrocks, 30 Trojan heads and 5 combined medallions on the shillelaghs. [1]

Series factoids

• Several years ago, when Kathie Lee Gifford still co-hosted Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, it often has become a point of discussion on the show. Co-host Regis Philbin is a Notre Dame graduate, while former co-host Kathie Lee Gifford is married to Frank Gifford, a USC football legend who went on to play for the New York Giants and become one of the sport's great broadcasters. The show is now co-hosted by Kelly Ripa instead of Gifford, but Philbin still often invokes Notre Dame football on the show, especially during the season.

Michigan rivalry and the Big Ten

Notre Dame and Michigan first played in 1887 in Notre Dame's introduction to football. Given both schools' rich football traditions and their close geographical proximity, Michigan and Notre Dame would seem to be natural rivals. However, they only played 11 times prior to 1978, in large part due to Michigan coach Fielding Yost's refusal to schedule Notre Dame again after a Michigan defeat at the hands of the Irish in 1909. Outside of two wartime games, Michigan did not play Notre Dame again until 1979. Since then, the series has been more or less continuous, often an early season game featured on national television. Through the 2005 season, Michigan leads the overall series 18-14-1. The rivalry is heightened by the two schools' competitive leadership atop the college football all-time winning percentage board, with Michigan holding a slim lead after the 2005 season.

Michigan's attempted "blackballing" of Notre Dame led to two unintended consequences. First, Notre Dame struck up a series with Michigan State, and somewhat later Purdue, to provide some Midwest opponents to fill the void in the schedule that the powerful Michigan squad had vacated. These series have continued with some regularity to the present day, making the Spartans and "Spoilermakers" two of Notre Dame's most frequent opponents and leading to some classic games including the Notre Dame / Michigan State "Game of the Century" in 1966. Second, it forced Notre Dame to schedule a broader array of opponents. Legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne capitalized on this trend to use intersectional matchups like ND/USC to promote "Rockne's Ramblers" as collegiate football's only truly national team.

Notre Dame has traditionally played Division I-A football independent from any conference affiliation. In its early years joining a conference, in particular the geographically-contiguous Big Ten Conference, would have provided stability and scheduling opportunities. Michigan's ongoing animosity towards Notre Dame, kept Notre Dame out of the Big Ten Conference (then known as the Western Conference) despite numerous entreaties before Knute Rockne's reign. Once Notre Dame established itself as a powerhouse program, however, its independence worked to its advantage, providing freedom in scheduling, national press coverage, a national fan base, and, many years later, a historic contract with NBC Sports for exclusive coverage of all its home games. Conferences have periodically approached Notre Dame about joining, most notably the Big Ten in 1999. Many Notre Dame fans and alumni, however, fiercely support its independent stance, feeling that it has contributed to Notre Dame's unique place in college football lore.

Series factoids

• The Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry was written into "The Portland Trip," an episode of the TV show The West Wing. President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen), established on a previous episode as a graduate of Notre Dame, is talking to his White House Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry (John Spencer), on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base, where Air Force One is about to take off for a Presidential visit to Portland, Oregon the night before the two schools were to play. Unable to hear what Leo said to him, Bartlet says, "I thought you said, 'Michigan sucks.'" While the show has never explicitly said that Leo is a graduate of Michigan, this is implied when he answers, "No sir. We're standing close to the engines, so it may have sounded like I said, 'Notre Dame is going to get the ass-kicking they so richly deserve.'" The episode concludes before the game can begin, so the winner is not revealed. Ironically, in 2000, the year in which the episode aired, the two schools did not play each other.

Navy rivalry

The Notre Dame-Navy series has been played annually since 1931, with Notre Dame holding a 69-9-1 series edge including a current 42-win streak that is the longest series win streak in Division 1-A football. Navy's last win came in 1963, 35-10 with future Heisman Trophy winner and NFL QB Roger Staubach at the helm. Navy has come close to winning on numerous occasions since, including in 1999 when Notre Dame needed a controversial first down call on 4th and 9 with 1:37 left to escape with a 28-21 win.

Despite the one-sided result the last few decades, most Notre Dame and Navy fans consider the series a sacred tradition for historical reasons. Notre Dame, like many colleges, faced severe financial difficulties during World War II. The US Navy made Notre Dame a training center and paid enough for usage of the facilities to keep the University afloat. Notre Dame has since extended an open invitation for Navy to play the Irish in football and considers the game annual repayment on a debt of honor. The series is marked by mutual respect, as evidenced by the Notre Dame team's standing at attention during the playing of Navy's alma mater after the 2005 game. Navy's athletic director, on renewing the series through 2016, remarked "...it is of great interest to our collective national audience of Irish fans, Naval Academy alumni, and the Navy family at large. Two institutions with similar values rekindling a lengthy and well-respected relationship make this game special."