Next Saturday the USC Trojans and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will battle on the gridiron for the 82nd time in this storied rivalry. Among other distinctions this rivalry has produced more National Championships, Heisman winners, All-Americans, and pro football Hall of Famers than any other match-up in FBS history.
Notre Dame currently has the edge all-time with 43 victories to USC’s 33 wins and this annual match-up has also featured 5 ties. Although the Irish have a clear advantage all-time, the last 15 years have seen the Trojans produce better results in the rivalry and the season as a whole. During the last 15 years and including the 1996 season, the Trojans have come away with the Jeweled Shillelagh 11 times and have outscored the Fighting Irish 452-269. During this time the Trojans have also managed to add a few National Championships (’03, ’04) to there already stellar resume. Unfortunately for USC the 2004 National Championship was vacated due to violations directly dealing with Heisman trophy winner Reggie Bush. The Trojans also vacated their win against the Irish in the 2005 season. So, according to the NCAA USC did not win any games in 2005 but their success on the field is still worthy of noting in reference to this great rivalry.
There is no doubt that USC has controlled the momentum in this rivalry over the last 15 years but the tide seems to be turning. Although both programs have gone through coaching changes in the last few years, the Notre Dame Athletic Director has been slightly more busy filling head coaching vacancies since the departure of coaching great Lou Holtz. The hiring of Brian Kelly in December of 2009, marked the 5th head coach of Notre Dame since Lou left in 1996. It is no mystery that the coaches since Holtz have experienced problematic or inconsistent results. Brian Kelly is 12-7 in his first 19 games as head coach and seems to have the football program heading in a direction that is more consistent with their legacy. Kelly appears to be a great on the field coach and is also doing a good job with his recruiting efforts. Next year Notre Dame has 9 four star recruits coming in and 6 of them are in the ESPN Top150. Many college football aficionados say that the best way to build a football team is with an abundance of 4 star recruits. Under this guise it is safe to say that Notre Dame is making sure they will be reloaded for the future*.
*ESPN has the Irish class of 2012 rated 11th and Rivals.com has them at 15th in the country.
On the other side of the coin, USC is still in the wake of NCAA violations that cost them a National Championship, Heisman trophy, and a head coach. Pete Carroll brought the USC program back to the top of the mountain during his time there and now Lane Kiffin will try his best shot of succeeding in the aftermath of the Reggie Bush scandal. The Trojans did post a winning record (9-6) last year but they also lost their first game to Notre Dame since the 2001 season. USC is still a top tier program but they clearly have some ground to make up at this point.
On October 22 these two teams will meet yet again and it should be another great match-up between two schools who are rebuilding their programs. During the BCS era these two teams have received a bid for a BCS bowl game 10 times (USC – 7, Notre Dame – 3). Although USC has won recently, it is has been over 20 years since Notre Dame has won a National title (’88) but it seems they finally have the coach to bring this prestigious program back to the promise land. It shouldn’t be long before this rivalry game is relevant to the National Championship landscape yet again.
About the Author: Craig Kibler is the lead blogger for SportsTraveler.net, a sports tourism site providing tickets and trip packages for pro and college football.
