Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman wants to continue the rivalry with USC.

“I love it,” he told The Inside Zone. “I hope we continue to do it. But again, every program’s gonna do what’s best for their conference and their chances to make the Playoff.

“I would love to continue this rivalry because it’s historic, and it goes way back. It’s a great opponent and again, I love the rivalry and I want it to continue to happen.”

He sounds more agreeable to continuing college football’s greatest intersectional rivalry than the meathead who wants to dumb down the schedule.

• Middlebury College wide receiver Donovan Wood has transferred to USC. Wood had 131 receptions for 2,246 yards and 19 touchdowns in his Division III career.

• And now for some history:

• Do we need to start offering history lessons on the USC-Notre Dame rivalry to the dummy?

The first game in 1926 at the Coliseum was a sell out of 75,000 and another 80,000 reportedly sought tickets. That’s USC player and future coach Jeff Cravath in the picture above.

After the game, the teams attended a ball at the new Shrine Auditorium that included stars like Myrna Loy, Ronald Coleman, Ricardo Cortez, Madge Bellamy, Ben Lyon, Billie Dove and Patsy Ruth Miller.

Notre Dame spent two days in Tucson for practices before it arrived in Los Angeles. The Irish won the thrilling game, 13-12.

• If you went to college in the 1950’s, it seems like having a good time was the No. 1 priority and USC certainly was no different.

This caused USC professor Dr. William S. Snyder in 1958 to blame students for a low level of intellectual and cultural life on campus.

“This does not mean USC does not provide opportunities for a considerable higher level of cultural life,” Snyder said. “But the influence of the Row tends to put pressure on the student into regarding his time on campus as one big party.”

• In 1953, there was a huge disturbance at USC as 2,000 students flooded the Row and caused mayhem. They burned a car; started several fires and burned street signs and couches; turned on a fire hydrant and vandalized police cars.
• USC officials attributed the disturbance to “spring fever,” which was another common practice in the 1950’s.

A DIFFERENT WORLD

• Can you imagine what it was like for football teams like USC and UCLA who knew before the season they had no chance to go to the Rose Bowl if they made it to Pasadena the previous season? Teams were not allowed to play in the Rose Bowl in back-to-back seasons.

A DIFFERENT WORLD, PART II

When Rutgers plays USC on a Friday night at the Coliseum on Oct. 26, it will take a chartered flight back to New Jersey right after the game.

Contrast that to 1958, when North Carolina played USC at the Coliseum on a Friday night. The next day, the Tar Heels went to Disneyland and then went to Hollywood on Saturday night. They flew home on Sunday.

• As if All-American Marlin McKeever didn’t do enough at USC, he also punted too.

• Here is the McDonald’s menu in the late 1940’s.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

• Here’s a beautiful color photo of downtown Los Angeles looking down Broadway fronm the intersection at 8th Street. The picture was taken around 1943.

You can see the Newsreel Theater behind the yellow bus. It actually just played newsreels.

• Godzilla breaches the electrical barrier in Tokyo in 1954’s classic, “Godzilla.”

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

A flawless scene. Script is tight and intense, great acting, sets the stage perfectly for these two characters. pic.twitter.com/xDkdncHRAJ

— Rachel 💗 Movies (@ArtemisiasPwr) July 20, 2024

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

It’s a little crazy to think that a year before actress Autumn Russell was in the classic scene above, she was trying to raise her profile by showing up as a guest at a USC fraternity party.

Next to her in the USC letterman’s jacket is tailback Ernie Zampese. He later became the offensive coordinator of the Chargers, Rams and Cowboys from 1986-97. The big guy on the far right is USC track star Rink Babka, who won a silver medal in the discus at the 1960 Summer Olympics.