Northwestern–Notre Dame football rivalry

The Northwestern–Notre Dame football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Starting in the 1920s, Northwestern and Notre Dame played for a Shillelagh until the mid-1970s. The trophy game was created at the behest of Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne, who wanted a rivalry in the Chicago area to help build Notre Dame's fan base in the area. Northwestern and Notre Dame stopped playing regularly after the 1970s, though the rivalry was renewed from 1992 to 1995. When Northwestern stunned Notre Dame as a 28-point underdog in 1995, the Chicago Sun-Times billed it as the "Upset of the Century." The two schools have not met since. Notre Dame holds the all-time advantage in the series, 37–8–2. The two schools will renew their rivalry in a two game series beginning with Northwestern traveling to South Bend in 2014 followed by Notre Dame traveling to Evanston in 2018.