Nov. 30, 1974
No. 6 USC 55, No. 5 Notre Dame 24
When No. 5 Notre Dame led No. 6 USC, 24-0, late in the first half of a night game in the Coliseum, it just looked like the Irish could go onto their second consecutive national championship. Until Anthony Davis scored on a 7-yard pass from Pat Haden with 10 seconds left in the half. Then Davis ran back the opening kickoff of the second half, and as he described it, "we turned into madmen." The Trojans, incredibly, went on to score 55 unanswered points in a 17-minute span of one of the most stunning comebacks in sports history. It was a linchpin in USC's national championship 1974 season.

Nov. 27, 1982
No. 17 USC 17, Notre Dame 13
In 1982, on the Monday preceding the game, John Robinson announced he was "retiring" as football coach (although he resurfaced in coaching months later as coach of the L.A. Rams). Win one for the Gipper? Nah, he says, "but maybe they'll go out and win one for the fat guy." And they did, and in dramatic fashion ... or did they? Michael Harper dived over from the 2-yard line for the game-winning touchdown with 1:13 remaining. Only problem was, he'd clearly left the ball on the 1-yard line. Touchdown USC, for a 17-13 victory. T-shirts on the Notre Dame campus the following year read: Notre Dame 13, USC 10, Refs 7.
 

Nov. 26, 1966
No.1 Notre Dame 51, No.10 USC 0
Following the game of the century against Michigan State in 1966, when ND coach Ara Parseghian was criticized for settling for the famous 10-10 tie, the Irish visited the Coliseum to complete the regular season against the 10th-ranked Trojans. Final score: Notre Dame 51, USC 0. The voters were convinced, and the Irish were national champions.

Nov. 29, 1986
Notre Dame 38, No. 17 USC 37
The 22-point comeback in 1999 was one to remember, but it isn't alone in Irish annals against the Trojans. In 1986, ND trailed by 17 points with 11 minutes to go. But Steve Beuerlein hit Braxston Banks with a 22-yard TD pass, Milt Jackson for 43 yards and Banks for five yards to cut it to 37-35. When ND held fast on fourth-and-1, the Irish unleashed a furious comeback that was capped by Tim Brown's 56-yard punt return in the final seconds that set up John Carney's game-winning 19-yard field goal on the last play with two seconds left.

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