Notre Dame Football’s Rivalry Trophies

Oct 19, 2013; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Troy Niklas (85) celebrates with center Nick Martin (72) after a touchdown in the first quarter against the USC Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

The Jeweled Shillelagh / USC

The Jeweled Shillelagh is the hardware given to the winner of the annual contest of the Trojans and The Fighting Irish. Legend states that Howard Hughes’ pilot brought this Gaelic Warclub, made of blackthorn oak, over from Ireland in 1952. The Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles created the award.

The winner of the contest is awarded the trophy with a new medallion to mark the victor. Notre Dame has emerald shamrocks while USC has ruby encrusted Trojan heads. Although the trophy was created in 1952, the entire series is recorded back to 1926. There have been 5 ties and those games are represented with a combo medallion. The original shillelagh was retired after the 1995 season. There was simply no more room for anymore shamrocks or heads.

It now resides at Notre Dame because the Irish won more games up to that point. There is a new trophy that is a little longer than the original. It was purchased by Jim Gillis, a former baseball player for Notre Dame and USC. It is the same kind of oak and hails from the County Leitrim in Ireland. It was introduced in 1996. Notre Dame leads the all-time series THE ALL TIME SERIES 46-36-5

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