USC VS. NOTRE DAME: THE BATTLE FOR NO. 1 : Perfect? Never Before Like This : USC-Notre Dame Will Match Unbeaten, Untied Teams

It seems appropriate that one of college football’s greatest rivalries has developed into the game of the year. USC and Notre Dame have engaged each other in a historic series that began in 1926 and Saturday’s game at the Coliseum is as significant as any that has preceded it.

In the matchup of the season, top-ranked Notre Dame will play second-ranked USC with the winner becoming the clear favorite to win the national championship pending the outcome of bowl games.

The Trojans and Irish have played when one team was unbeaten and untied. However, this is their first meeting when both have perfect records.

USC is 10-0 and headed for the Jan. 2 Rose Bowl game with Michigan. Notre Dame is 10-0 and already committed to the Jan. 2 Fiesta Bowl game against unbeaten West Virginia in Tempe, Ariz.

But first things first. The Coliseum has already been sold-out, 92,516 capacity, in anticipation of what could be called the Poll Bowl.

USC set the stage for the game by beating UCLA, 31-22, Saturday at the Rose Bowl to win the Pacific 10 Conference championship after Notre Dame easily disposed of Penn State, 21-3, earlier in the day at South Bend, Ind.

The background for the Nov. 26 game is as intriguing as the game itself. Consider:

--It’s the 24th time since the inception of the Associated Press poll in 1936 that there has been a matchup of the nation’s Nos. 1 and 2 ranked teams.

--USC has been involved in 3 such games, beating Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl in 1963 as the No. 1 team; losing to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl in 1969 as the No. 2 team and beating Oklahoma in an early season game in 1981 with a No. 1 ranking at the time.

--Notre Dame has had 6 previous games with the No. 1 and 2 matchup: against Iowa Pre-Flight and Michigan in 1943; Army in 1945 and 1946; Michigan State in 1966, and Purdue in 1968. The Irish are 2-2-2 in such encounters.

--USC has a 5-1-2 record against Notre Dame when the Trojans went in as an unbeaten, untied team. The Irish are 6-4-1 against USC when they were in similar circumstances.

--Notre Dame has defeated USC 5 consecutive years. Neither team has ever been able to make it 6 in a row.

--USC has yet to lose a game at the Coliseum since Larry Smith became coach in 1987, the record standing at 10-0.

--Notre Dame has won 7 national championships since the AP poll began and can claim 3 others with different selection methods before 1936.

--USC has won eight national championships, three before the AP poll was accepted as the standard.

--The Trojans have deprived the Irish of the national championship by winning in season-ending games in 1938 and 1964. USC also tied Notre Dame, 14-14, in 1948 when the Irish were unbeaten and second-ranked.

--The teams have had only two previous meetings when both were undefeated, but USC’s record was marred by a tie. The Irish won those two games--38-7, in 1947 before 104,953, a record Coliseum crowd; and, 23-14, in a midseason meeting in 1973.

Notre Dame currently is at full strength for Saturday’s game. As a precaution against contracting the measles that temporarily incapacitated USC quarterback Rodney Peete, Coach Lou Holtz will have his team inoculated today in South Bend, Ind.

Holtz is, of course, aware of the significance of Saturday’s game, but doesn’t want his team to dwell on it. “We can’t be afforded the luxury of thinking about that (national championship),” he said. “I can die and still get into heaven if we don’t win the national championship.”

After his team beat Penn State, Holtz made a reference to USC when he said: “Our squad has voted unanimously to go to a warm-weather climate and play a very good football team next week, and we’re going to do it. We’re sure of one thing, it won’t rain.”

Don’t bet on it, coach. It has rained buckets here for previous USC-Notre Dame games, as recently as 1984.

In retrospect, Coach Terry Donahue of UCLA seemed to suggest last week, the Bruins’ dismantling of Nebraska 2 months ago was not the harbinger of great things that it was thought to be at the time.

In fact, Donahue said, UCLA’s 41-28 shucking of the Cornhuskers probably led to unrealistic expectations for the Bruins.

“We went into the Nebraska game, looked awfully impressive and shot to the No. 2 ranking, almost without earning it,” Donahue said a few days before the Bruins’ loss to USC. “I think almost anything from there was kind of a letdown.

“We got everyone’s expectations up to a level that we were never able to fulfill, rightly or wrongly.”

After getting a season-high 362 yards rushing in a 56-3 rout of hopelessly overmatched Cal State Long Beach a week after they beat Nebraska, the Bruins grew increasingly reliant on the passing of Troy Aikman.

In eight Pac-10 games, the Bruin quarterback passed for 244.9 yards a game and UCLA ran for only 160.5.

Shortcomings in the Bruins’ defense were revealed, too.

And so, even on two of Aikman’s best days--he was 27 of 44 for 325 yards against Washington State and 32 of 48 for 317 yards against USC--UCLA lost.

Last week, in defending himself after sub-par performances in victories over Oregon and Stanford, Aikman said: “The bottom line is that we won. One measure of a quarterback is how well he leads his team. And whether it’s fair or not, a quarterback is judged by how well his team does.”

Aikman, though, could not be faulted in the loss to USC.

As one of only two senior offensive starters for the Bruins against the Trojans, he couldn’t do it alone.

As Donahue hinted last week, UCLA doesn’t appear to be as well-rounded as USC, or even as well-rounded as the Bruins seemed to be in the second week of the season.

For that reason, UCLA is going to Dallas to play Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl; and USC, still unbeaten as it heads into its showdown against Notre Dame, is going to Pasadena.

Times staff writer Jerry Crowe also contributed to this story.

THE BATTLE FOR NO. 1

Results of USC-Notre Dame games when one or both are unbeaten:

Year Significant record before game Game score 1927 USC unbeaten with 1 tie Notre Dame, 7-6 1928 USC unbeaten with 1 tie USC, 27-14 1929 Notre Dame unbeaten Notre Dame, 13-12 1930 Notre Dame unbeaten Notre Dame, 27-0 1931 Notre Dame unbeaten with 1 tie USC, 16-14 1932 USC unbeaten USC 13-0 1938 Notre Dame unbeaten USC, 13-0 1939 USC unbeaten with 1 tie USC, 20-12 1941 Notre Dame unbeaten with 1 tie Notre Dame, 20-18 1946 Notre Dame unbeaten with 1 tie Notre Dame, 26-6 1947 Both unbeaten, USC has a tie Notre Dame, 38-7 1948 Notre Dame unbeaten Tie, 14-14 1949 Notre Dame unbeaten Notre Dame, 32-0 1952 USC unbeaten Notre Dame, 9-0 1953 Notre Dame unbeaten Notre Dame, 48-14 1961 Notre Dame unbeaten Notre Dame, 30-0 1962 USC unbeaten USC, 25-0 1964 Notre Dame unbeaten USC, 20-17 1965 USC unbeaten with 1 tie Notre Dame, 28-7 1966 Notre Dame unbeaten with 1 tie Notre Dame, 51-0 1967 USC unbeaten USC, 24-7 1968 USC unbeaten Tie, 21-21 1970 Notre Dame unbeaten USC, 38-28 1971 Notre Dame unbeaten Notre Dame, 28-14 1972 USC unbeaten USC, 45-23 1973 Both unbeaten, USC has a tie Notre Dame, 23-14 1975 USC unbeaten USC, 24-17 1979 USC unbeaten with 1 tie USC, 42-23 1980 Notre Dame unbeaten with 1 tie USC, 20-3

Notre Dame leads the series when one or both teams are unbeaten, 14-13-2.