The rivalry between USC and Notre Dame has been celebrated as the greatest in college football, fondly referred to and remembered by Trojan and Irish alike as magical...storied...classic...and history-shaping. 

The USC-Notre Dame rivalry pits titan against titan, tradition against tradition, legend against legend: Hollywood vs. Heartland. Traveler vs. Leprechaun. Fight Song vs. Victory March. Song Girl vs___ (well, there really is no ND rival to the SC Song Girls!)

According to legend, in 1925, the wives of USC graduate assistant, Gwynn Wilson,and Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne met after a Notre Dame-Nebraska game. The young USC graduate assistant's wife boasted to Mrs. Rockne about Southern California's sunny weather, suggesting that Los Angeles would be a far more pleasant destination for a November road trip than Lincoln, Nebraska. Mrs. Rockne, in turn, sold the idea to her husband and launched what has become the greatest intersectional college football rivalry ever. (Another variation of this story suggests that Wilson was actually sent by SC to Nebraska to seek and secure a high-profile, national rival.)

Whether the rivalry was the result of wives, weather, or a combination of both, history recorded the first-ever USC-Notre Dame meeting on December 4, 1926, with the Irish edging the Trojans 13-12. SC currently trails the series 29-42-5, but the Trojans have soundly captured the last three contests 44-13, 45-14 and 41-10 en route to two National Championships.