Notre Dame Fighting Irish football rivalries
Encyclopedia
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football rivalries refers to rivalries of the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 in the sport of college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

. Notre Dame rivalries encompass many teams. Because the Fighting Irish are independent of a football conference, they play a more national schedule, and have thus developed rivalries with many different schools. Also, because of Notre Dame's independent scheduling, some teams may have at one time been considered rivals to Notre Dame, but these rivalries have diminished over time when the two schools have taken a long hiatus from scheduling each other.

Notre Dame has a major rivalry with the University of Southern California, and also has a historic and "natural enemy" in the University of Michigan
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...

. Historically, USC, Michigan and Notre Dame have been among the top football programs in the country. Michigan is college football's all-time leader in winning percentage, followed by Notre Dame, while Notre Dame and USC are tops in national championships, and Heisman Trophies
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

. The Fighting Irish have maintained longtime annual series with Michigan State University
Michigan State Spartans football
The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level...

, Purdue University
Purdue Boilermakers football
The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...

, and the U.S. Naval Academy
Navy Midshipmen football
The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I-A college football. They are a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision independent school and coached by Ken Niumatalolo since December 2007...

. Finally, Notre Dame has minor rivalries with several schools. Because Notre Dame does not schedule these series on an annual basis, the intensity of these rivalries has varied over time and is debated by fans.

USC

The Notre Dame – USC rivalry has been played annually since 1926, except for a brief repose from 1943 to 1945, and is regarded as the greatest intersectional series in college football. The winner of the annual rivalry game is awarded the coveted Jeweled Shillelagh
Jeweled Shillelagh
The Jeweled Shillelagh is passed between the annual winner of the college football game between the University of Southern California Trojans and the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The shillelagh, an Irish war club, is made of oak or blackthorn saplings from Ireland...

, a war club adorned with emerald-emblazoned clovers signifying Fighting Irish victories and Ruby-emblazoned Trojan warrior heads for Trojan wins. 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 was introduced for the 1997 season. Through the 2011 season, Notre Dame leads the rivalry series 43-34-5.

The origin of the series is quite often recounted as a "conversation between wives" of Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...

 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.

However, several college football historians, including Murray Sperber, have uncovered evidence that somewhat contradicts this story. Of the most contradictory parts is the idea that Rockne was resistant to playing out west. Sperber documents that USC offered to play Notre Dame back in 1925 at the Rose Bowl. Notre Dame ultimately played Stanford that year because they were the Pacific Coast conference champs. But due to the large alumni support for an annual season ending game in Los Angeles and the still existing interest for a home-and-home series, Notre Dame and USC started playing the series the following year in 1926. The series creation was also likely aided by USC coach Howard Jones, whom Rockne recommended USC hire due to their long friendship.

Since 1961, the game has alternated between Notre Dame Stadium
Notre Dame Stadium
Notre Dame Stadium is the home football stadium for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. The stadium is located on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States, just north of the city of South Bend....

 in South Bend in mid-October and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...

, which serves as USC's home field, in late November. Originally the game was played in both locations in late November, but because of poor weather during that time of the year at South Bend, USC insisted on having the game moved to October in 1961.

Big Ten schools

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
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

, would have provided stability and scheduling opportunities. Conferences have periodically approached Notre Dame about joining, most notably the Big Ten in 1999. Notre Dame elected to keep its independent status in football, feeling that it has contributed to Notre Dame's unique place in college football lore. Even so, many Big Ten teams appear on the Fighting Irish's schedule. In fact, Notre Dame has faced every Big Ten team at some point in its history. In recent years, an average of three Big Ten opponents appear on the Fighting Irish schedule each season, but it has varied by as few as two (1983–84) to as many as five (1962, 1968). Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue are the most frequently scheduled Big Ten opponents.

Michigan

Notre Dame and Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 first played in 1887 in Notre Dame's introduction to football. The Wolverines proceeded to win the first eight contests, before losing in 1909, the final game in the series until the 1942, when the Wolverines defeated the Fighting Irish. On October 9, 1943, top-ranked Notre Dame defeated second-ranked Michigan in the first matchup of top teams since the institution of the AP Poll
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...

 in 1936. After that, the series again was halted. It resumed in 1978 and has been contested every year since, with the exception of hiatuses in 1983-84, 1995–96, and 2000-01. Including the 2011 game, Michigan leads the overall series 23-15-1; since 1978, the series is tied 13-13-1. The two programs agreed to a 20-year contract extension in 2007 that will keep the game going through the 2031 season. The rivalry is heightened by the two schools' competitive leadership atop the college football all-time winning percentage board, as well as its competition for the same type of student-athletes.

Michigan State

Notre Dame has a rivalry with Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

 that began in 1897. The 1966 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game is regarded as one of the games of the century
Game of the Century (college football)
The phrase "Game of the Century" is a superlative that has been applied to several college football contests played in the 20th century, the first full century of college football in the United States...

 and is still talked about to this day because of the way it ended - in a 10-10 tie. Since polls began in 1936, this game marked the 10th matchup that paired the #1 ranked team against the #2 team, with Notre Dame having been involved in five of these ten games. Currently the Fighting Irish are 46-32-1 vs. the Spartans. However, MSU has won 10 of the last 14 meetings, including a streak of six consecutive wins in South Bend from 1997-2007. The Spartans also beat Notre Dame eight straight times between 1955 and 1963 (they did not meet in 1958) under coach Duffy Daugherty
Duffy Daugherty
Hugh Duffy Daugherty was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Michigan State University from 1954 to 1972, where he compiled a career record of 109–69–5. Duffy's 1965 and 1966 teams won national championships...

. The two teams play for the Megaphone Trophy.

Purdue

The Fighting Irish also have a yearly rivalry with the Purdue
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 Boilermakers, who are also located in the state of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

. This rivalry began in 1896 and the two squads have met each year without interruption since 1946. The Fighting Irish lead the series at 54-26-2 as of 2010. The two teams play for the Shillelagh Trophy. The series has been marked by a number of key upsets. The Boilermakers ended Notre Dame's 39-game unbeaten string in 1950 and posted upsets in 1954, 1967 and 1974. They also hold the record for the most points scored in one game by an opponent in Notre Dame Stadium with 51 in 1960 while Notre Dame holds the record for scoring the most points by an opponent in Ross-Ade Stadium, Purdue's home field, with 52 in 1983. On September 28, 1968, #1 ranked Purdue defeated #2 Notre Dame 37-22 behind the effort of Leroy Keyes
Leroy Keyes
Marvin Leroy Keyes is a former American football running back and safety who played five seasons in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. He was drafted by the Eagles in the first round of the 1969 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue...

, a two-way player for the Boilermakers. It was the eleventh 1 vs 2 game (and the sixth involving Notre Dame).

Navy (U.S. Naval Academy)

The Notre Dame-Navy series has been played annually since 1927, making it the longest uninterrupted intersectional series in college football. Notre Dame holds a 71-12-1 series edge. Before Navy won a 46-44 triple-overtime thriller in 2007, Notre Dame had a 43-game winning streak that was the longest series win streak between two annual opponents in the history of Division I FBS football. Navy's previous win came in 1963, 35-14 with future Heisman Trophy winner and NFL QB Roger Staubach
Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach is a businessman, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Hall of Fame former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 until 1979. Staubach was instrumental in developing the Cowboys into becoming one of the best teams of the 1970s and led the team to nine of the Cowboys'...

 at the helm. Navy had come close to winning on numerous occasions before 2007:
  • 1984: Notre Dame pulled out a last-second 18-17 win on a field goal that should have been disallowed because the play clock had expired before the ball was snapped and none of the officials noticed.
  • 1997: A Navy receiver was knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line with no time left, keeping him from scoring the touchdown that would have ended the streak and preserving a 21-17 Notre Dame win.
  • 1999: Notre Dame needed a controversial first down call on 4th and 9 with 1:37 left to escape with a 28-24 win.
  • 2003: A last-second Fighting Irish field goal kept the game from going to overtime and gave Notre Dame a 27-24 victory.


Navy subsequently won the game again in 2009 and 2010.

Despite the one-sided result the last few decades, most Notre Dame and Navy fans consider the series a sacred tradition for historical reasons. Both schools have strong football traditions going back to the beginnings of the sport. 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 Fighting Irish in football and considers the game annual repayment on a debt of honor. The series is marked by mutual respect, as evidenced by each team standing at attention during the playing of the other's alma mater after the game, a tradition that started in 2005. Navy's athletic director, on renewing the series through 2016, remarked "...it is of great interest to our collective national audience of Fighting Irish fans, Naval Academy alumni, and the Navy family at large." The series is scheduled to continue indefinitely; renewals are a mere formality.

The series is a "home and home" series with the schools alternating the home team. Due to the relatively small size of the football stadium in Annapolis
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Navy – Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium near the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It is the home field of the Navy Midshipmen football team, the men's lacrosse team, and the Chesapeake Bayhawks lacrosse team....

, the two teams have never met there. Instead, Navy usually hosts the game at larger facilities such as Baltimore's old Memorial Stadium or current M&T Bank Stadium
M&T Bank Stadium
M&T Bank Stadium is a multi-purpose football stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. The stadium is immediately adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles. Served by the Hamburg Street station of...

, FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland
Landover, Maryland
Landover is an unincorporated community in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, within the census-designated place of Greater Landover. The Prince Georges County Sports and Learning Complex is in Landover...

, Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...

 and later Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field is the home stadium of the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles. It has a seating capacity of 68,532 . It is located in South Philadelphia on Pattison Avenue between 11th and 10th streets, also aside I-95 as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...

 in Philadelphia, or at Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...

 in East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....

. During the 1960s, the Midshipmen hosted the game at John F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia. In 1996 the game was played at Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...

 in Dublin, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. The game will return to Dublin in 2012, where the Aviva Stadium
Aviva Stadium
The Aviva Stadium is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 50,000 spectators. The stadium is built on the site of the old Lansdowne Road venue, which was demolished in 2007, and replaces that stadium as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the...

 will be the host venue. The game was also occasionally played at old Cleveland Stadium
Cleveland Stadium
Cleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football...

.

In years when Navy hosts (even-numbered), it is one of few non-Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 games aired on CBS
SEC on CBS
The SEC on CBS is a presentation of the college football television package owned by CBS Sports...

. In years when Notre Dame hosts (odd-numbered), it is carried on NBC
Notre Dame Football on NBC
Notre Dame Football on NBC is a presentation of the Notre Dame football television package on NBC. The television network broadcasts all Notre Dame home games.-History:...

 as are other Notre Dame home games.

The Streak

Here's a game-by-game look at Notre Dame's NCAA-record 43-game win streak against Navy.

1964 - Notre Dame 40, Navy 0 : Notre Dame came in at 5-0 under first year coach Ara Parseghian and proceeded to shut out the injury-riddled Mids in a game that pitted 1963 Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach against 1964 winner John Huarte.

1965 - Notre Dame 29, Navy 3

1966 - Notre Dame 31, Navy 7 : Notre Dame was 5-0 and ranked #1 heading into this year's showdown, having shut out their three previous opponents. Navy's only score came on a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown, one of only five touchdowns the Fighting Irish would give up all year en route to a national championship.

1967 - Notre Dame 43, Navy 14 : This game is remembered for a heavy snowstorm in the second half, at which point the Notre Dame student body began chanting, "Ara stop the snow! Ara stop the snow!"

1968 - Notre Dame 45, Navy 14 : This was the last game that Fighting Irish quarterback Terry Hanratty would play in during his college career. He suffered a severe knee injury during practice the following week, paving the way for Joe Theismann to take the rein
Rein
Reins are items of horse tack, used to direct a horse or other animal used for riding or driving. Reins can be made of leather, nylon, metal, or other materials, and attach to a bridle via either its bit or its noseband.-Use for riding:...

s.

1969 - Notre Dame 47, Navy 0 : Notre Dame amassed 720 yards of total offense, a school record that still stands.

1970 - Notre Dame 56, Navy 7 : The game was tied, 7-7 before the Fighting Irish pulled away. Leading the nation in total offense for most of the season behind Heisman Trophy runner-up Joe Theismann, Notre Dame gained 600 yards of total offense.

1971 - Notre Dame 21, Navy 0

1972 - Notre Dame 42, Navy 23 : Notre Dame's Gary Diminick returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and the Fighting Irish never looked back.

1973 - Notre Dame 44, Navy 7 : Notre Dame was 6-0 and coming off a big win over USC. They would finish the season undefeated and win the AP national championship with a 24-23 win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

1974 - Notre Dame 14, Navy 6 : For three quarters, Navy kept the Fighting Irish offense in check with a prodigious punting game and led, 6-0 going into the fourth quarter. Notre Dame quarterback Tom Clements managed to throw a touchdown pass to Pete Demmerle to put the Fighting Irish in front, then Randy Harrison added an insurance touchdown with an interception return. Although no one knew it at the time, Ara Parseghian made up his mind during the trip back to South Bend to resign as head coach at the end of the season.

1975 - Notre Dame 31, Navy 10 : Notre Dame came into this game at 5-2 under first-year coach Dan Devine. Joe Montana was lost for the rest of the season when he suffered a broken finger.

1976 - Notre Dame 27, Navy 21 : Dave Waymer tipped away a fourth down pass in the end zone late in the game to preserve the win for the Fighting Irish.

1977 - Notre Dame 43, Navy 10 : Coming off an emotional win over USC, Notre Dame picked up right where they left off. They would go on to win the national championship that season.

1978 - Notre Dame 27, Navy 7

1979 - Notre Dame 14, Navy 0 : Notre Dame celebrated the 50th year of service for Notre Dame Stadium during this game.

1980 - Notre Dame 33, Navy 0 : Notre Dame came in undefeated and would be voted #1 after top-ranked Alabama lost. It proved to be short-lived, as the Fighting Irish were tied by Georgia Tech the following week, 3-3.

1981 - Notre Dame 38, Navy 0 : Notre Dame was 2-4 coming in under first-year head coach Gerry Faust. They would finish 5-6.

1982 - Notre Dame 27, Navy 10

1983 - Notre Dame 28, Navy 12

1984 - Notre Dame 18, Navy 17 : John Carney's field goal with 14 seconds remaining enabled Notre Dame to erase a 17-7 deficit and escape with a win. The officials didn't notice that the play clock had expired before the ball was snapped for the kick.

1985 - Notre Dame 41, Navy 17

1986 - Notre Dame 33, Navy 14 : Notre Dame was 2-4 under first-year head coach Lou Holtz and coming off a bye week. They led at the half, 28-0 and coasted the rest of the way.

1987 - Notre Dame 56, Navy 13 : Notre Dame's offense gains over 400 rushing yards in a blowout win.

1988 - Notre Dame 22, Navy 7 : Notre Dame came in at 7-0 and ranked #2 behind UCLA. This game was much closer than the score would indicate, as the Fighting Irish were out of sync all afternoon after arriving at their hotel at 11:00 PM the previous night. They were voted #1 after UCLA lost on that same afternoon and would stay there for the rest of the season, winning the national championship.

1989 - Notre Dame 41, Navy 0 : Notre Dame came in ranked #1 and riding a 20-game winning streak. They would set a new school record for consecutive wins the following week. This was their first shutout of an opponent under coach Lou Holtz.

1990 - Notre Dame 52, Navy 31 : Navy coach George Chaump pulled out all the stops for this game, dusting off the wishbone after discarding it at the start of the season. It wasn't enough, although it kept things interesting for a while.

1991 - Notre Dame 38, Navy 0 : Notre Dame's 700th victory.

1992 - Notre Dame 38, Navy 7

1993 - Notre Dame 58, Navy 27 : Navy actually led at halftime before Notre Dame got going and pulled away in the second half.

1994 - Notre Dame 58, Navy 21

1995 - Notre Dame 35, Navy 17 : Fighting Irish quarterback Ron Powlus suffered a broken arm in the second half with Notre Dame trailing. Thomas Krug stepped in and engineered a comeback win. This was the last game played at Notre Dame Stadium prior to the start of expansion.

1996 - Notre Dame 54, Navy 27 : This game was played at Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...

 in Dublin, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, only the second time Notre Dame had played a game overseas.

1997 - Notre Dame 21, Navy 17 : Allen Rossum saved the day for the Fighting Irish, knocking Navy receiver Pat McGrew out of bounds at the Notre Dame 1-yard line on a 69-yard pass as time ran out.

1998 - Notre Dame 30, Navy 0

1999 - Notre Dame 28, Navy 24 : A controversial spot on a fourth down play late in the game allowed Notre Dame to maintain possession and score the winning touchdown.

2000 - Notre Dame 45, Navy 14 : This game was played at the Florida Citrus Bowl for the first time.

2001 - Notre Dame 34, Navy 16

2002 - Notre Dame 30, Navy 23 : The Fighting Irish, coming off a devastating loss to Boston College, scored 15 unanswered points late in the fourth quarter to pull this one out under first-year head coach Tyrone Willingham.

2003 - Notre Dame 27, Navy 24 : D. J. Fitzpatrick's 40-yard field goal as time expired lifted the Fighting Irish over the Middies in an otherwise dismal season for Notre Dame, who entered the game at 2-6.

2004 - Notre Dame 27, Navy 9

2005 - Notre Dame 42, Navy 21

2006 - Notre Dame 38, Navy 14

2007 - Navy 46, Notre Dame 44 (3OT)

Other rivalries

In an effort to fill its schedule because it does not play in a conference, Notre Dame has played many teams that have produced rivalries during the course of the games played. These teams, however, are not considered to be Notre Dame's main rivals because of the short time span involved or the long time in between games played.

Air Force

The Fighting Irish and Falcons first met in 1964 with the Fighting Irish prevailing, 34-7, and proceeded to play each other annually from 1972 to 1991 (they didn't meet in 1976). Notre Dame won the first 11 contests before Gerry Faust's
Gerry Faust
Gerard Anthony "Gerry" Faust is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame from 1981 to 1985 and at the University of Akron from 1986 to 1994, compiling a career college football record of 73–79–4...

 teams lost four straight in the early 80s. One of the most memorable games was the 1975 contest in which Notre Dame, trailing 30-10 in the fourth quarter, rallied behind Joe Montana
Joe Montana
Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. , nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played quarterback for the next 14 seasons...

 for a 31-30 comeback win. The Fighting Irish and Falcons last met in 2007. The Fighting Irish came into this game matching their worst start in Notre Dame history with a 1-8 record. The Falcons won for the first time since 1996 by a score of 41-24, the largest margin of victory for Air Force in six wins over the Fighting Irish, the biggest by a military academy since Navy beat the Fighting Irish 35-14 in 1963 behind Roger Staubach
Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach is a businessman, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Hall of Fame former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 until 1979. Staubach was instrumental in developing the Cowboys into becoming one of the best teams of the 1970s and led the team to nine of the Cowboys'...

 and it marked the first time they had ever scored 40 points in a game against Notre Dame. It marked the first time Notre Dame had lost to two service academies in the same season since 1944 and it was also a school-record sixth straight home loss for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame leads the series 23-6. Notre Dame and Air Force will meet again for the 2013 football season.

Army

The first Notre Dame-Army matchup in 1913 is generally regarded as the game that put the Fighting Irish on the college football map. In that game, Notre Dame revolutionized the forward pass in a stunning 35-13 victory. For years it was "The Game" on Notre Dame's schedule, played at Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...

 in New York. During the 1940s, the rivalry with the U.S. Military Academy Black Knights
Army Black Knights football
The Army Black Knights football program represents the United States Military Academy. Army was recognized as the national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946....

 reached its zenith. This was because both teams were extremely successful and met several times in key games (including one of the Games of the Century, a scoreless tie in the 1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game
1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game
The 1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game was a regular season college football game played on November 9, 1946. Army , then ranked Number 1 in the Associated Press college football poll, played the University of Notre Dame, of South Bend, Indiana, ranked Number 2, at Yankee Stadium in New York City...

). In 1944, the Black Knights administered the worst defeat in Notre Dame football history, crushing the Fighting Irish, 59-0. The following year, it was more of the same, a 48-0 blitzkrieg. After meeting every year since 1919, Army decided to end the annual series after 1947 because they felt it was becoming too one-sided in favor of the Fighting Irish. The game was played in South Bend for the first time and the Fighting Irish prevailed, 27-7. Since then, there have been infrequent meetings over the past several decades, with Army's last win coming in 1958. Like Navy, due to the small capacity of Army's Michie Stadium
Michie Stadium
Michie Stadium is an outdoor football stadium located on the campus of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. It is the home field for the Army Black Knights. It opened in 1924 and has a current seating capacity of 38,000....

, the Black Knights would play their home games at a neutral site, which for a number of years was Yankee Stadium and before that, the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...

. In 1957, the game was played in Philadelphia's Municipal (later John F. Kennedy Memorial) Stadium while in 1965, the teams met at Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...

 in New York. They last met at Yankee Stadium in 1969. The 1973 contest was played at West Point with the Fighting Irish prevailing, 62-3. In more recent times, games in which Army was the host have been played at Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...

 in East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....

. Notre Dame leads the series 38-8-4., most recently playing Army at the new Yankee Stadium, winning in a 27-3 decision.

Boston College

The Fighting Irish and Boston College Eagles
Boston College Eagles
The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams representing Boston College. They compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The men's and women's ice hockey teams compete in Hockey East. The women's crew team competes in the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing...

 first met in 1975 in Dan Devine's debut as head coach. They met in the 1983 Liberty Bowl
Liberty Bowl
The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year from 1959 to 2007 and in January in 2009 and 2010. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003...

 and during the regular season in 1987, then played each other annually from 1992 to 2004. The Fighting Irish and Eagles play for the Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl
Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl
The Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl is an award given to the winner of the University of Notre Dame-Boston College football game. It is awarded by the Notre Dame Club of Boston. In addition to this trophy, the winner is also awarded the Ireland Trophy by each school's respective student government....

 and the Ireland Trophy. This rivalry is primarily an attempt to bank on the fact that they are the only Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 universities to field football teams in the NCAA Division I FBS. The rivalry has become relatively popular and gained several nicknames including the "Holy War
Holy War (Boston College vs. Notre Dame)
The Holy War is an American college football rivalry between the Boston College Eagles football team of Boston College and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team of the University of Notre Dame...

", "The Bingo Bowl" and "The Celtic Bowl". In 1993, the Eagles ruined Notre Dame's undefeated season with a 41-39 victory on a last second field goal as time ran out, overshadowing a furious fourth quarter rally by the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame leads the series 11-9, winning the last two contests in 2009 and 2010 after the Eagles won the last six meetings. The series was scheduled to end after the 2010 season due in part to BC's move to the ACC
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...

 and Notre Dame's current commitment to play three Big East teams per year, however it was renewed in 2010 for another decade.

Georgia Tech

This series began in 1922. The Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in collegiate level football. While the team is officially designated as the Yellow Jackets, it is also referred to as the Ramblin' Wreck. The Yellow Jackets are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference...

 were a longtime rival of the Fighting Irish and the two teams met periodically on an annual basis over the years. When Georgia Tech, who had been an independent since 1963 when they dropped out of the Southeastern Conference, joined the Atlantic Coast Conference beginning in 1982, they were forced to end the series after 1981 because of scheduling difficulties. Consequently the two teams have met very infrequently since then. Georgia Tech was the opponent in the inaugural game in the newly expanded Notre Dame Stadium in 1997, then a year later they met again in the Gator Bowl. The Fighting Irish and Yellow Jackets met in the 2006 and 2007 season openers and split both games. Notre Dame holds a 27-6-1 edge in the series.

LSU

Though Notre Dame has traditionally played northern and western universities, it has played against southern schools with increasing regularity in recent decades, including several from the Deep South. Notre Dame's initial avoidance of bowl games and its disdain for segregation generally limited opportunities to compete against schools from the Deep South until the 1970s. When Notre Dame ended its self-imposed bowl-ban to play in the 1970 Cotton Bowl - a bowl that had indicated it would invite a 9-1-0 Louisiana State University
LSU Tigers football
The LSU Tigers football team, also known as the Fighting Tigers or Bayou Bengals, represents Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States in NCAA Division I FBS college football. Current head coach Les Miles has led the team since 2005. Since 1999 when Nick Saban took over as...

 team until Notre Dame made itself available - LSU imposed a one-year bowl ban on itself in protest, and the seething LSU fan base drew a bead on the Fighting Irish program. In a subsequent two-game series set for the 1970 and 1971 seasons - billed as a series between the nation's largest private Catholic college and the public university with the most Catholic students - the teams split. The #2-ranked Irish took a hard-fought 3-0 victory in South Bend the first year with a late score, and a revenge-minded LSU squad won handily the next year in Tiger Stadium, 28-8. With the Catholic traditions of both schools, it was thought that a regular series would develop, and Notre Dame approved four more games several years down the road. The first, being Gerry Faust
Gerry Faust
Gerard Anthony "Gerry" Faust is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame from 1981 to 1985 and at the University of Akron from 1986 to 1994, compiling a career college football record of 73–79–4...

's first game as head coach, drew extensive media coverage, and ended with the Fighting Irish pulling a 27-9 win over the Fighting Tigers in South Bend, moving the Irish into the #1 spot in the polls afterward. Faust also led an upset over LSU in Death Valley in 1984 (30-22). In 1985 LSU made a late interception and held on to a 10-7 lead for its first win in South Bend. Faust later said on a radio interview that when he saw Tim Brown crying in the locker room after the loss - Brown had blamed himself for the interception - he told Brown that the loss was Faust's own fault, and then he made the conscious decision to step down as head coach. LSU won the next year at home, 21-19, against new head coach Lou Holtz
Lou Holtz
Louis Leo "Lou" Holtz is a retired American football coach, and active sportscaster, author, and motivational speaker in the United States...

. The game featured a 96-yard kickoff return by Brown and a goal-line stand by LSU. The Fighting Tigers also held off a 2-point conversion with 3:32 remaining. The series then ceased for another few years. In the mean time, LSU hired Notre Dame alum Gerry DiNardo
Gerry DiNardo
Gerard DiNardo is a former American football player and coach. He played college football as a guard for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish where he was selected as an All-American in 1974...

 as head coach. He first coached against his alma mater in 1997, with Notre Dame winning in a rainy 24-6 upset in Baton Rouge. The two schools met again the following month in the Independence Bowl
Independence Bowl
The Independence Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana, so named because it was inaugurated in the United States bicentennial year, 1976....

 with LSU winning this time, 27-9. Notre Dame got revenge the next year in South Bend, 39-36. Although it was expected that DiNardo could use his influence as an alum to keep the Irish as a regular on LSU's schedule, he was unable to maintain his early success at LSU and was pressured to resign during the 1999 season. Prior to that, there had been speculation that he might fill a head coaching vacancy at Notre Dame. Later LSU coach Nick Saban
Nick Saban
Nicholas Lou "Nick" Saban is the head coach of the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide football team. Saban has previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins and three other NCAA universities: LSU, Michigan State and Toledo...

 was also mentioned as a possible candidate for head coach of the Fighting Irish. Following another brief hiatus in the series, the two schools met again in the 2007 Sugar Bowl
2007 Sugar Bowl
The 2007 Allstate Sugar Bowl Game was a college football bowl game, which formed part of the 2006–2007 Bowl Championship Series of the 2006 NCAA Division I-BS football season. Played on January 3, 2007, in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, it was the 73rd Sugar Bowl...

, the first Sugar Bowl to be held in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina had chased it to Atlanta the year before. Despite the pre-game attention garnered for quarterback Brady Quinn
Brady Quinn
Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. Quinn was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame.-Early Years:Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn was born on...

 - who had won numerous awards that season and was considered a possible #1 draft pick - LSU's JaMarcus Russell
JaMarcus Russell
JaMarcus Trenell Russell is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. Russell played college football for the LSU Tigers where he finished 21–4 as a starter and was named MVP of the 2007 Sugar Bowl. The Oakland Raiders selected Russell with the first overall pick of the 2007...

 had a career game and jumped Quinn as the first choice in the next NFL draft. The Fighting Tigers won 41-14. Notre Dame announced in conjunction with that Sugar Bowl appearance that they would like to play a future regular season game in the Superdome but have indicated that LSU may not necessarily be their opponent there. The area is a potential recruiting source for Notre Dame, given its unusually large Catholic population in a region of the country more known for its volume of Baptist adherents. LSU, the twelfth winningest program in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision, has now played Notre Dame in each of the last four decades and more times than any other Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 school. LSU also has more wins against Notre Dame than any other SEC school. The series record is currently split evenly at 5-5. Notre Dame and LSU are two of only several schools in the country that use the word "Fighting" as part of their mascot names, although most people know LSU as merely the "Tigers" without the word "Fighting".

Miami (Florida)

The rivalry with the University of Miami Hurricanes
Miami Hurricanes football
The Miami Hurricanes football program competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference of the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the University of Miami. The program began in 1926 and has won five AP national championships...

 began in 1955 and through the 70s was dominated by Notre Dame. Traditionally, it was the season-ending game for the Fighting Irish in odd-numbered years, as they sought to end each season at a warm-weather site. Miami holds the distinction of being the only team to shut out Notre Dame during the Ara Parseghian (0-0 in 1965), Gerry Faust (20-0 in 1983) and Lou Holtz (24-0 in 1987) eras. During the 1980s, this once-docile rivalry became ferocious. Both teams were national contenders in the latter part of the decade, and both teams cost each other at least one national championship. Hostilities were fueled when the Hurricanes routed the Fighting Irish in the 1985 season finale, 58-7, with Miami widely accused of running up the score in the second half. The rivalry gained national attention and both teams played their most famous games from 1988–1990, dubbed the "Catholics vs. Convicts
Catholics vs. Convicts
The 1988 Notre Dame vs. Miami football game, colloquially known as "Catholics vs. Convicts", was played on October 15, 1988. The two teams were undefeated when they met at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won the closely contested game by a final score of 31-30.The name "Catholics vs...

" contests. The first was won by the Fighting Irish, 31-30, with Miami ending Notre Dame's record 23-game winning streak the following year, 27-10. The rivalry ended after the Fighting Irish crushed #2 Miami's hopes for a repeat national championship with a 29-20 victory in South Bend. The Fighting Irish and the Hurricanes met again, in the 2010 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, where Notre Dame routed a self-destructing Miami 33-17.

Notre Dame holds a 16-7-1 edge. They will meet in Soldier Field in 2012, to play each other in the regular season for the first time since 1990 and will renew a yearly home-and-home series starting in 2016.

Nebraska

The Fighting Irish and the Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Nebraska Cornhuskers is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference...

 first met in 1915 and played each other annually through 1925. During the years of Notre Dame's famed Four Horsemen backfield from 1922 to 1924, the Fighting Irish compiled a record of 27-2-1, with both of their only losses coming to Nebraska in Lincoln (1922 & 1923). The Fighting Irish won in 1924 in South Bend and Nebraska won in 1925 in Lincoln, evening up the series at 5-5-1 (the 0-0 tie occurring in 1918). The Huskers were replaced on Notre Dame's schedule with USC. They met twice during the Frank Leahy era in 1947 and 1948 (with the Fighting Irish winning 31-0 and 44-13, respectively) and squared off in the 1973 Orange Bowl, a game in which the Huskers handed the Fighting Irish their worst defeat under Ara Parseghian, 40-6. More recently, there was a home-and-home series in 2000-01 (with the Huskers winning 27-24 and 27-10, respectively). The 2000 game was a memorable one, as #1 Nebraska escaped a Fighting Irish defeat in overtime on a touchdown run by Heisman winner Eric Crouch
Eric Crouch
Eric Eugene Crouch is an American quarterback for the Omaha Nighthawks. He also is a TV sports analyst and recreational equipment vendor....

. Nebraska leads the series 8-7-1.

Northwestern

This rivalry began in 1889, one of the oldest in Fighting Irish football annals. It has been suggested that the nickname, "Fighting Irish," originated during that first meeting when Northwestern fans chanted, "Kill those Irish! Kill those fighting Irish!" at halftime. Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 and Notre Dame had a yearly contest from 1929 to 1948, with the winner taking home a shillelagh, much like the winner of the USC-Notre Dame contest now receives. The Northwestern-Notre Dame shillelagh was largely forgotten by the early 1960s. Northwestern ended the series after 1948, as did several other schools who were getting tired of being beaten year in and year out by Notre Dame, and the two schools would not meet again until 1959. By then, Ara Parseghian was coaching the Wildcats, who notched four consecutive victories over Notre Dame between 1959 and 1962. After Ara came to Notre Dame, he posted a 9-0 docket against his old team. In fact, the Fighting Irish did not lose to Northwestern again until their most recent meeting in September 1995, which was the beginning of a Rose Bowl season for the Wildcats. The series will be renewed in 2014 when the Wildcats will travel to South Band for the first time in 20 years, the Irish will repay the visit in 2018 when they will travel to Evanston. Notre Dame holds a 37-8-2 edge against the Wildcats, but Northwestern has scoreboard from their most recent meeting on the road in South Bend.

Penn State

Notre Dame and Penn State
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

 first met in 1913. After subsequent games in 1925, 1926 and 1928, the two schools would not meet again until the 1976 Gator Bowl, by which time an annual home-and-home series beginning in 1981 had been agreed upon. The Fighting Irish held a 4-0-1 edge going in to 1981, but the Nittany Lions
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...

 proceeded to win six of next seven games. The coaches were one source of the rivalry. Lou Holtz
Lou Holtz
Louis Leo "Lou" Holtz is a retired American football coach, and active sportscaster, author, and motivational speaker in the United States...

 and Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...

 were both long serving and successful coaches. Their friendly rivalry helped expand the ND - Penn State rivalry to new dimensions. The series ended after the 1992 season, coinciding with formerly independent Penn State's affiliation with the Big Ten. It had been scheduled to continue through 1994 and Notre Dame approached Penn State about extending it even further, but Penn State's admittance to the Big Ten in 1990 made it more difficult to fit the games on the schedule. However the Fighting Irish and Nittany Lions recent successes and other factors led to the renewal of the rivalry in 2006-07, in which the teams split both games. The series is even at 9-9-1.

Pittsburgh

The Fighting Irish's longtime rivalry with the Pittsburgh Panthers
Pittsburgh Panthers football
Pittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football...

, Notre Dame's fifth most played football opponent, began in 1909 and there have been no more than two consecutive seasons without two teams meeting each other except between 1913–1929, 1938–1942, and 1979-1981. Since 1982, the Panthers have remained a relative fixture on the schedule. Notre Dame leads the series 44-20-1. The longest game in Notre Dame history occurred between the two schools in 2008, when Pitt defeated ND in a record 4 overtimes by a field goal.

Stanford

The Fighting Irish have a minor rivalry with the Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 Cardinal
Stanford Cardinal football
The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference's North Division. Stanford, the top-ranked academic institution with an FBS program, has a highly successful football tradition. The...

 (for the Legends Trophy, a combination of Fighting Irish crystal with California redwood). The two teams first met in the 1925 Rose Bowl
1925 Rose Bowl
The 1925 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game. It was the 11th Rose Bowl Game. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated Stanford University, 27-10. The game featured two legendary coaches, Knute Rockne of Notre Dame, and Glenn "Pop" Warner in his first year at Stanford. The game also featured...

, then played each other in 1942 and again in 1963–64. The modern series began in 1988 and has been played annually except in 1995–96. Notre Dame leads the series 17–8. When the game is played in Palo Alto
Stanford Stadium
Stanford Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium on the Stanford University campus, the home of Stanford Cardinal college football team. It originally opened in 1921 as a football and track stadium, an earthen horseshoe with wooden bleacher seating and flooring upon a steel frame...

, it is usually the last game on Stanford's schedule (as has been the case since 1999), one week after the Cardinal plays archrival Cal in The Big Game
Big Game (football)
The Big Game is an American college football rivalry game played by the California Golden Bears football team of the University of California, Berkeley and the Stanford Cardinal football team of Stanford University. It is typically played in late November or early December...

.
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