December 4, 1926: The 1st Notre Dame vs. USC Game

December 4, 1926: The University of Notre Dame and the University of Southern California play each other in football, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was the 1st meeting between the schools, and the birth of a great rivalry.

So why do a school based in South Bend, Indiana and one based in Los Angeles, California play each other, just about every year? Blame Bonnie Rockne and Marion Wilson, the wives of, respectively, Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne and USC athletic director Gwynn Wilson.

In 1926, USC, already a traditional power in West Coast college football, had an open date on their schedule, and were looking for a major opponent to fill it. The Wilsons went to Lincoln, Nebraska to watch Notre Dame, themselves already a traditional power nationwide, play the University of Nebraska on Thanksgiving Day. Nebraska won, 17-0.

Mr. Wilson approached Mr. Rockne about the idea of the Fighting Irish coming to L.A. to play USC. He didn't want to do that much traveling. After all, this was still the early days of airplanes, and the year the federal highway system was founded, so most long-distance travel was still done by train. But Mrs. Wilson told Mrs. Rockne that a trip every 2 years to sunny Southern California was better than one to snowy, hostile Nebraska. Mrs. Rockne talked Mr. Rockne into it, and the game was played on December 4, 1926, at the Coliseum. Notre Dame won, 13-12, and Rockne called it the greatest game he'd ever seen.

For the 1927 and 1929 games, Notre Dame had the home field, and since their on-campus Cartier Field topped out at 30,000 seats, they chose to play at Soldier Field in Chicago. Their 7-6 win in 1927 and their 13-12 win in 1929 were both seen by about 120,000 people, among the largest crowds in college football history.

Notre Dame Stadium opened on the South Bend campus in 1930. It long had a capacity of 59,075, until a 1997 renovation expanded it to 77,622. And so, every year, from 1930 onward, they've traded home fields -- except for the World War II seasons of 1943, '44 and '45, when wartime travel restrictions made intersectional college football games inappropriate, with even the major bowl games restricting themselves to matchups of teams from their own regions.

But every year since 1946, USC has hosted the game at the Coliseum in even-numbered years, usually on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend; while Notre Dame had hosted it in South Bend in odd-numbered years, usually in the middle of October, because the weather is usually better in the Midwest then than it would be in late November.

And, since 1951, it has always been broadcast on national television. When it's at USC, ABC broadcasts it in prime time. When it's at NBC, since 1991, they've broadcast it, leading to jokes about NBC standing for "Notredame Broadcasting Company."

In 1931, USC won in South Bend for the 1st time, coming from 14-0 down to win 16-14 on Johnny Baker's 33-yard field goal with 1 minute left, ending Notre Dame's 26-game unbeaten streak, a streak that had been intact despite Rockne's death in a plane crash early in the year. In 1938, Notre Dame went into the game ranked Number 1, but USC beat them, 13-0. In 1948, Notre Dame went into the game ranked Number 1 and with a 21-game winning streak, but USC held them to a 14-14 tie.

In 1964, Notre Dame went into the game ranked Number 1, but USC beat them, 20-17. In 1968, USC went into the game ranked Number 1, but Notre Dame tied them, 21-21. In 1972, Anthony Davis scored 6 touchdowns in a win. In 1974, Notre Dame led 24-0, but USC won 55-24. It was "The Anthony Davis Game," as A.D. scored 4 times.

From 1983 to 1993, Notre Dame beat USC 11 straight times, with a tie in 1994 and another Irish win in 1995. It became a running gag on the TV show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee: The Monday morning after the game, Kathie Lee Gifford would take a dollar bill and slip it to Regis Philbin, because he, a Notre Dame graduate, had a bet with Kathie Lee's husband, Frank Gifford, an ABC sportscaster and one of USC football's biggest legends. From 2002 to 2009, USC won 8 straight years, including the 2005 game won with the supposedly illegal push of Reggie Bush into the end zone in South Bend.

Including the game of November 26, 2022, a 38-27 USC win, Notre Dame leads the rivalry, 48-37, with 5 ties. The teams play for the Jeweled Shillelagh, a trophy that goes to the winning team each year. Although it's not the kind of thing you normally show in public.

Take a guess as to why.

 

Alabama, Michigan or Ohio State fans might object, but it could be argued that Notre Dame and USC are the two greatest college football programs. Notre Dame have won 11 National Championships, 22 bowl games, and 7 Heisman trophies -- but no Conference Championships, since they've never been in a conference. USC have won 11 National Championships, 39 Conference Championships, 36 bowl games, and 8 Heisman Trophies.

UPDATE: As of the 2025 season, Notre Dame leads, 51-37-5. But USC's move to the Big Ten Conference -- a move that the Midwest-based Notre Dame should have made decades ago, but never has -- led to scheduling issues that prevented games between the schools for the 2026, '27, '28 and '29 seasons. They've agreed to play in 2030, '31, '32 and '33, but early in the season, instead of in the middle when it's Notre Dame's turn to host and late when it's USC's.

*

December 4, 1926 was a Saturday. In English soccer, Arsenal defeated Manchester-area team Bury, 1-0 at the Arsenal Stadium, nicknamed Highbury for its North London neighborhood.

I have a separate entry for this event.

There was 1 score in the NFL: The Frankford Yellow Jackets beat the Chicago Bears, 7-6 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. This game was considered big enough to move from the Jackets' usual home, Frankford Stadium in North Philadelphia. The Jackets went on to win the NFL Championship.

Baseball was out of season. Professional basketball was hardly major league at this point. There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Cougars, 1-0 at the Border Cities Arena (now the Windsor Arena) in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, across the Detroit River from Detroit. The Cougars moved to the Olympia Stadium in Detroit in 1927, became the Detroit Falcons in 1930, and became the Detroit Red Wings in 1932.

* The New York Americans beat the Toronto St. Patrick's, 1-0 at the Mutual Street Arena in Toronto. The St. Patricks became the Maple Leafs in 1927.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Montreal Maroons, 5-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at the Ottawa Auditorium.

* And the Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at the Duquesne Gardens in Pittsburgh. Harry Oliver scored the winning goal, 7:25 into overtime.