When the No. 22 LSU football team faces Notre Dame on Dec. 30 in the Music City Bowl, the two teams will be competing for more than the just a trophy or another “W” in the win column.
The Tigers (8-4, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) and Fighting Irish (7-5) will be jockeying for the lead in their all-time series.
As it stands today, LSU and Notre Dame are tied with five wins apiece in their 10 total meetings.
Nov. 7, 1970 — No. 2 Notre Dame 3, No. 6 LSU 0
The first matchup took place in Nov. 1970. By that time, Notre Dame had already established itself as a national power with eight national championships thanks to coaches Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy and Ara Parseghian.
Parseghian was at the helm for No. 2 Notre Dame in the first meeting of the two programs when it hosted No. 6 LSU at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish and eventual Heisman runner-up quarterback Joe Theismann squared off with the Tigers and cornerback Tommy Casanova in a defensive battle.
The game featured 22 punts, 26 first downs, five turnovers and 392 total yards. Neither team could find its way onto the scoreboard for the game’s first three quarters.
Late in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame held LSU to a three and out inside its own 10 yard line. After a short punt gave the Irish the football at the Tigers’ 36, Theismann drove Notre Dame into the red zone, setting up a 24-yard go-ahead field goal with less than three minutes remaining.
The Tigers had two more possessions but were never able to score, giving the Irish the 3-0 victory.
Nov. 20, 1971 — No. 14 LSU 28, No. 7 Notre Dame 8
Notre Dame made its first trip to Tiger Stadium the following season. This time, it took only 10 plays before quarterback Bert Jones found wide receiver Andy Hamilton to give LSU a 7-0 lead.
Jones and Hamilton connected again in the second quarter to give the Tigers a 14-0 halftime lead. Late in the third quarter, LSU defensive back Norman Hodgins recovered a Notre Dame fumble, one of four Irish turnovers, at the Notre Dame 33 yard line.
A few plays later, Jones ran it in from five yards out to push the difference to 21-0. The Irish scored a late touchdown, but it was too little too late as the Tigers won the game, 28-8.
According to the game’s official box score posted on LSUsports.net, then-LSU coach Charles McClendon said, “I’ve been at LSU 19 years and this was the greatest victory in Tiger Stadium in that time. How sweet it is.”
“I would like to meet LSU regularly,” said Irish coach Ara Parseghian according to the game’s box score. “It would make a great series.”
Despite Parseghian’s wish, the series took a 10-year hiatus.
Sept. 12, 1981 — No. 4 Notre Dame 27, LSU 9
In that time, Jerry Stovall replaced McClendon after he retired from LSU after the 1979 season, and Gerry Faust had just taken the reins at Notre Dame.
The Tigers went for the top 5 upset in their second trip to South Bend, but LSU once again came away empty-handed in Faust’s first home game.
The Irish took a 20-0 lead into halftime, and the Tigers, thanks to four turnovers, were never able to claw their way back, falling to the Irish 27-9.
Oct. 27, 1984 — Notre Dame 30, No. 7 LSU 22
LSU had its chance to get the series back even with new coach Bill Arnsparger.
The Tigers forced fumble by running back Allen Pinkett and looked poised to exact their revenge early as LSU quarterback Jeff Wickersham found running back Dalton Hilliard from three yards out for a 7-0 lead.
Notre Dame quickly recovered and scored 20 straight points, including two touchdowns from Pinkett. Hllliard ended Notre Dame’s scoring streak in the third quarter with a 66-yard touchdown run, but the Irish kept the Tigers out of striking distance with 10 fourth-quarter points to answer Hilliard’s run.
Wickersham threw a 50-yard touchdown pass and converted the ensuing two-point conversion to get LSU within one score. But Notre Dame recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to cap off a 30-22 upset of the Tigers.
Nov. 23, 1985 — No. 17 LSU 10, Notre Dame 7
Unlike the scoring fest of the previous year, the 1985 version of the series was a defensive bout. Notre Dame wide receiver and future College Football Hall of Famer Tim Brown took an end-around 18 yards into the end zone to punctuate the Irish’s first drive of the game.
But LSU’s defense held Notre Dame off the scoreboard for the rest of the game. The Tigers hit a field goal as time expired in the first half and took their first lead with 3:26 remaining on a two-yard touchdown run by running back Garry James.
Notre Dame threw two interceptions and LSU fumbled the ball once in those last three minutes, but the Tigers were able to hold on for their first victory in South Bend.
Nov. 22, 1986 — No. 7 LSU 21, Notre Dame 19
In 1986, Notre Dame came to Baton Rouge with a new weapon – future College Football Hall of Fame member, coach Lou Holtz.
LSU quarterback Tommy Hodson gave his team an early 7-0 lead on a touchdown pass to wide receiver Wendell Davis, but Notre Dame’s Tim Brown went 96 yards for a touchdown to even the score on the ensuing kickoff.
The Tigers took a 14-7 lead into halftime before Notre Dame got back to within one point on two field goals from kicker John Carney. A Hodson touchdown midway through the third quarter pushed LSU’s lead to eight points.
With 3:32 left to play, the Irish scored a touchdown and trailed by only two points. But LSU’s defense stood tall and kept the Irish from converting on a two-point attempt, sealing the 21-19 victory.
Nov. 15, 1997 — Notre Dame 24, No. 11 LSU 6
1997 was an odd year in the series.
The Tigers and Irish matched up twice. The two teams battled for the first time in mid-November at Tiger Stadium in front of 80,566 fans, the largest crowd in series history.
But the crowd had the wind taken out of its sails as Notre Dame scored 17 first quarter points and held LSU’s offense in check.
The Tigers punted only twice in the game but turned the ball over on downs three times, threw three interceptions and missed a field goal. Running back Kevin Faulk helped LSU avoid a shutout with a fourth quarter touchdown run, but it only made the scoreboard look better.
The Irish left Tiger Stadium with a 24-6 upset victory against LSU.
Dec. 28, 1997 — No. 15 LSU 27, Notre Dame 9 (Independence Bowl)
Forty-three days later, LSU got its chance at revenge just more than 200 miles north in Shreveport in the Independence Bowl, the first postseason matchup in the series. The Tigers lost Faulk to an injury during the game, but his replacement, Rondell Mealey, dominated the Irish and rushed 34 times for 222 yards and two touchdowns.
Tyler turned in an interception-free football game, and LSU’s defense kept Notre Dame out of the end zone en route to a 27-9 win.
Nov. 21, 1998 — No. 10 Notre Dame 39, LSU 36
The following season was a disappointing one for the Tigers.
After losing five of its last six games, LSU limped into South Bend to face 8-1 Notre Dame, but the Tigers hung tight in the shootout.
LSU opened the offensive explosion with a defensive score, a pick-six from safety Mark Roman. The Tigers never trailed the Irish in the first half and carried a 21-14 lead into halftime on the shoulders of two Faulk touchdowns.
Notre Dame running back Autry Denson brought the Irish to within a point with a three-yard rushing touchdown. LSU quarterback Herb Tyler threw two touchdowns to wide receiver Abram Booty to give the Tigers a 14 point lead halfway through the third quarter.
But LSU was unable to punch it in the end zone the rest of the game. Notre Dame scored three straight touchdowns, including a Bobbie Howard interception return for a score.
The Tigers scored a safety with three seconds remaining, but it wasn’t enough as the Irish finished off the comeback, 39-36.
Jan. 3, 2007 — No. 4 LSU 41, No. 11 Notre Dame 14 (Sugar Bowl)
After the 2006 regular season, LSU and Notre Dame each had double-digit victories and were eyeing up a BCS bowl. The Tigers and Irish were both sent to New Orleans to face off in the Sugar Bowl.
LSU quickly jumped out to an early 14-0 advantage, but Notre Dame answered with two touchdowns of its own from quarterback Brady Quinn. But it was Tigers’ quarterback JaMarcus Russell who lit up the final stat sheet.
In his final game in an LSU uniform, Russell threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another. The Tigers closed the game with 27 straight points, winning the series’ most recent matchup, 41-14, and tying the all-time series at five games apiece.