Notre Dame Football: Top home games of the last 50 years

With Notre Dame hosting Clemson this weekend, here are the top home games over the last 50 years of Fighting Irish football.

This Saturday is not a regular game in South Bend, as it is one of the most anticipated games in recent memory, but can it live up to some of the greatest games in Notre Dame Stadium history?

Clemson’s trip to South Bend may not be in front of a full stadium, but it’s still the biggest Notre Dame home game in the last 15 years. It’s bigger than when Georgia made the trip, any of the times Michigan or Stanford came to town, when Oklahoma visited on a revenge game, or any of post-Reggie Bush USC teams coming to play at Notre Dame.

On the surface, it’s the No. 1 team in the country and an opportunity to take control of their own fate in the ACC. But Saturday night is so much more than that to Notre Dame. Saturday night is more than a chance to get revenge for the 2018 Cotton Bowl and the 2015 game in a monsoon.

It’s an opportunity to change the narrative surrounding the Notre Dame program. It’s an opportunity to go from good to great, and remind the country that Notre Dame can compete with anyone. It’s a chance to reestablish Notre Dame as one of the consistently elite programs in the game.

Yes, the absence of Trevor Lawrence takes some of the shine off the game, but Clemson is still loaded with talent. Dabo Swinney is still considered one of the two best coaches in college football. Brian Kelly has yet to prove he can out-coach the elite coaches.

Notre Dame needs to prove it has the elite athletes to compete at the level it takes to win a National Championship.

That’s what’s on the line this Saturday, and that’s what makes it one of the most important home games of not just the last 15 years but the last 50 years. Here’s looking at those games of the past 50 years that Clemson-Notre Dame is competing with as most important of the last 50 years.