Northwestern–Notre Dame football rivalry

American college football rivalry

Northwestern–Notre Dame football rivalry
Statistics
Northwestern Wildcats Notre Dame Fighting Irish
First meeting	November 14, 1889 Notre Dame 9, Northwestern 0
Latest meeting	November 3, 2018 #3 Notre Dame 31, Northwestern 21
Next meeting	TBD
Meetings total	49
All-time series	Notre Dame leads, 38–9–2
Largest victory	Notre Dame, 48–0 (1976)
Longest win streak	Notre Dame, 14 (1965–1994)
Current win streak	Notre Dame, 1 (2018)

50km
30miles

Notre Dame

Northwestern Locations of Northwestern and Notre Dame

The Battle for the Shillelagh is an American college football rivalry between the Northwestern Wildcats and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

History

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 metropolitan area to help build Notre Dame's fanbase there.

The game decided the national championship in 1930, and Notre Dame victories cost Northwestern national championships in 1926 and 1936. The two schools stopped playing regularly in the 1970s, though the rivalry was renewed from 1992 to 1995. When Northwestern stunned No. 8 Notre Dame 17–15 as a 28-point underdog in 1995, the Chicago Sun-Times billed it as the "Upset of the Century."

In 2014, the rivalry was renewed in a two-game series, with Northwestern winning 43–40 in overtime in South Bend. It gave Northwestern only their second winning streak against the Irish since they won four straight from 1959–62. Notre Dame traveled to Evanston in November 2018 for their first encounter on the Wildcats' home turf since 1976. The Fighting Irish got their revenge for the Wildcats overtime upset in South Bend four years prior, winning 31–21 at Ryan Field. Notre Dame leads the series 38–9–2.

Game results

Northwestern victories

Notre Dame victories

Tie games

No.	Date	Location	Winning team		Losing team
1	November 14, 1889	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	9	Northwestern	0
2	October 28, 1899	South Bend, IN	Notre Dame	12	Northwestern	0
3	October 12, 1901	Evanston, IL	Northwestern	2	Notre Dame	0
4	November 14, 1903	Chicago, IL	Tie	0	Tie	0
5	November 20, 1920	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	33	Northwestern	7
6	November 22, 1924	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	13	Northwestern	6
7	November 21, 1925	South Bend, IN	Notre Dame	13	Northwestern	10
8	October 23, 1926	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	6	Northwestern	0
9	November 23, 1929	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	26	Northwestern	6
10	November 22, 1930	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	14	Northwestern	0
11	October 10, 1931	Evanston, IL	Tie	0	Tie	0
12	November 12, 1932	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	21	Northwestern	0
13	November 18, 1933	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	7	Northwestern	0
14	November 17, 1934	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	20	Northwestern	7
15	November 9, 1935	South Bend, IN	Northwestern	14	Notre Dame	7
16	November 21, 1936	South Bend, IN	Notre Dame	26	Northwestern	6
17	November 20, 1937	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	7	Northwestern	0
18	November 19, 1938	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	9	Northwestern	7
19	November 18, 1939	South Bend, IN	Notre Dame	7	Northwestern	0
20	November 23, 1940	Evanston, IL	Northwestern	20	Notre Dame	0
21	November 15, 1941	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	7	Northwestern	6
22	November 21, 1942	South Bend, IN	Notre Dame	27	Northwestern	20
23	November 13, 1943	Evanston, IL	#1 Notre Dame	25	#8 Northwestern	6
24	November 18, 1944	South Bend, IN	Notre Dame	21	Northwestern	0
25	November 17, 1945	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	34	Northwestern	7

No.	Date	Location	Winning team		Losing team
26	November 16, 1946	South Bend, IN	#2 Notre Dame	27	Northwestern	0
27	November 15, 1947	Evanston, IL	#1 Notre Dame	26	Northwestern	19
28	November 13, 1948	South Bend, IN	#2 Notre Dame	12	#8 Northwestern	7
29	October 24, 1959	South Bend, IN	#2 Northwestern	30	Notre Dame	24
30	October 22, 1960	Evanston, IL	Northwestern	7	Notre Dame	6
31	October 28, 1961	South Bend, IN	Northwestern	12	#8 Notre Dame	10
32	October 27, 1962	Evanston, IL	#3 Northwestern	35	Notre Dame	6
33	October 2, 1965	South Bend, IN	Notre Dame	38	Northwestern	7
34	October 1, 1966	Evanston, IL	#4 Notre Dame	35	Northwestern	7
35	October 12, 1968	South Bend, IN	Notre Dame	27	Northwestern	7
36	September 20, 1969	South Bend, IN	Notre Dame	35	Northwestern	10
37	September 19, 1970	Evanston, IL	#6 Notre Dame	35	Northwestern	14
38	September 18, 1971	South Bend, IN	#2 Notre Dame	50	Northwestern	7
39	September 23, 1972	Evanston, IL	#13 Notre Dame	37	Northwestern	0
40	September 22, 1973	South Bend, IN	#8 Notre Dame	44	Northwestern	0
41	September 21, 1974	Evanston, IL	#1 Notre Dame	49	Northwestern	3
42	September 27, 1975	South Bend, IN	#7 Notre Dame	31	Northwestern	7
43	September 25, 1976	Evanston, IL	Notre Dame	48	Northwestern	0
44	September 5, 1992	Chicago, IL	#3 Notre Dame	42	Northwestern	7
45	September 4, 1993	South Bend, IN	#6 Notre Dame	27	Northwestern	12
46	September 3, 1994	Chicago, IL	#4 Notre Dame	42	Northwestern	15
47	September 2, 1995	South Bend, IN	Northwestern	17	#8 Notre Dame	15
48	November 15, 2014	South Bend, IN	Northwestern	43	#18 Notre Dame	40
49	November 3, 2018	Evanston, IL	#3 Notre Dame	31	Northwestern	21
Series: Notre Dame leads 38–9–2

References

^ "Winsipedia – Northwestern Wildcats vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish football series history". Winsipedia.
"The history of Northwestern–Notre Dame". www.insidenu.com. Inside NU. November 10, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
"History of NU's Rivalry Trophies". hailtopurple.com. April 4, 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
Ziehm, Len (September 3, 1995). "THE UPSET OF THE CENTURY; Believe It: NU Stuns Notre Dame". Chicago Sun-Times.
Wittenburg, Adam (April 14, 2011). "Irish, Wildcats to play series". ESPN. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
"Winsipedia – Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Northwestern Wildcats football series history". www.winsipedia.com. Winsipedia. Retrieved August 18, 2018.

v t e Northwestern Wildcats football
Venues	Northwestern Field (1905–1925) Ryan Field (1926–2023) Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium (2024–2025)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois Michigan: George Jewett Trophy Notre Dame
Culture and lore	Willie the Wildcat "Go U Northwestern" Marching band 2006 Michigan State game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1876 1877–1881 1882 1883–1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Venues	Brownson Hall field (1892?–1899) Cartier Field (1899–1928) Soldier Field (1929) Notre Dame Stadium (1930–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Emerald Isle Classic Army Boston College Michigan Michigan State Navy Northwestern Pittsburgh Purdue Stanford USC
Culture and lore	History Band of the Fighting Irish Irish Guard Notre Dame Box Notre Dame Leprechaun "Notre Dame, Our Mother" "Notre Dame Victory March" Play Like a Champion Today Subway Alumni T formation Tall Grass Game 1946 "Game of the Century" 1966 "Game of the Century" Catholics vs. Convicts 30 for 30 film 1993 "Game of the Century" Bush Push Navy ends the drought Death of Lizzy Seeberg 2020 ACC Championship Game The Spirit of Notre Dame Knute Rockne, All American Notre Dame Football on NBC Rudy
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks Four Horsemen NFL draftees Statistical leaders Team captains
Seasons	1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Big Ten Conference football rivalries
Protected conference rivalries	Illinois–Northwestern Illinois–Purdue Indiana–Purdue Iowa–Minnesota Iowa–Nebraska Iowa–Wisconsin Maryland–Rutgers Michigan–Michigan State Michigan–Ohio State Minnesota–Wisconsin Oregon–Washington UCLA–USC
Other conference rivalries	Illinois–Indiana Illinois–Michigan Illinois–Ohio State Indiana–Michigan State Maryland–Penn State Michigan–Minnesota Michigan–Northwestern Michigan–Penn State Michigan State–Penn State Minnesota–Nebraska Minnesota–Penn State Nebraska–Wisconsin Ohio State–Penn State
Non-conference	Alabama–Penn State Chicago–Michigan Chicago–Purdue California–UCLA Colorado–Nebraska Illinois–Missouri Indiana–Kentucky Iowa–Iowa State Kansas–Nebraska Kansas State–Nebraska Maryland–Navy Maryland–Virginia Maryland–West Virginia Miami–Nebraska Michigan–Notre Dame Michigan State–Notre Dame Missouri–Nebraska Nebraska–Oklahoma Northwestern–Notre Dame Notre Dame–Purdue Notre Dame–USC Oregon–Oregon State Northwest Championship (Oregon–Oregon State–Washington–Washington State) Oregon–Saint Mary's Penn State–Pittsburgh Penn State–Syracuse Penn State–West Virginia Old Ironsides (Penn State–Pittsburgh–West Virginia) Princeton–Rutgers Stanford–USC Washington–Washington State

v t e NCAA Division I FBS independents football rivalries
Army–Notre Dame Holy War (Boston College–Notre Dame) Boston College–UMass Michigan–Notre Dame Michigan State–Notre Dame Navy–Notre Dame Colonial Clash (New Hampshire–UMass) Northwestern–Notre Dame Notre Dame–Pittsburgh Notre Dame–Purdue Notre Dame–Stanford Notre Dame–USC Rhode Island–UConn Syracuse–UConn UConn–UMass

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