We have said it before at Trojans Wire, and we will say it again during another Notre Dame game week in 2023: The John McKay-Ara Parseghian years represented the height of the USC-Notre Dame rivalry.
As we noted three years ago, USC and Notre Dame both won national titles and denied the other team national titles in the 11 years McKay and Parseghian coached against each other, from 1964 through 1974:
“Both USC and Notre Dame won two national titles during the 11 years of Ara-McKay meetings. Notre Dame was the more consistent program in the 11 seasons, never losing more than three games in a season and losing more than two games only once, in 1972. USC lost four games in three separate seasons during those 11 years and three in a fourth. Notre Dame’s record was better than USC’s… but only slightly: 95-17-4 in those 11 seasons, while USC was 93-22-7. USC played 122 games to Notre Dame’s 116 because Notre Dame refused to play in bowl games until the 1969 season. The Irish played Texas in the 1970 Cotton Bowl.
“USC denied Notre Dame two national titles — one in 1964, as noted above, the other in 1970. Notre Dame would have finished No. 1, ahead of Nebraska, had it beaten USC and gone unbeaten and untied that year.
“The 1969 tie marked an occasion when Notre Dame (a two-loss team that season) prevented USC (unbeaten but with one tie) from winning a share of the national championship with unbeaten Texas.”
Soak in the magic and memories as we present some great USC-Notre Dame photos from the 1960s and 1970s: