This Week in Stanford Football History: Notre Dame Week

“Thanksgiving Throwback” November 27, 1999: Stanford 40, Notre Dame 37

One has to wonder, back in 1988, when the administrators at national college football powerhouse Notre Dame signed a contract to engage Stanford in football competition every other year - what were they thinking? Already in a long-term home-and-home scheduling relationship with Pacific Coast powerhouse USC, the Irish clearly wanted an opportunity to head west on Thanksgiving weekend every year in order to play on national television in front of scores of potential high-end recruits in the talent-rich Golden State (not to be confused with “Golden Tate”!)

In the very first meeting of the two programs, Notre Dame had beaten Stanford 27-10 in the 1925 Rose Bowl to win their first-ever football national championship in their one and only appearance in the Rose Bowl until a College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Alabama in 2021. And indeed, 63 years later, under head coach Lou Holtz, after commencing the Stanford series and rolling over the Cardinal 42-14 behind outstanding dual-threat QB Tony Rice, the Golden Domers would go 12-0 and bring home the 1988 National Championship. That Irish team is widely considered to be one of the most outstanding teams in college football history. Surely, Notre Dame was the big dog on the block, the Catholic Cardinals of the college football world, playing at a different level and in a different class than the lowly Stanford “Cardinal”, which, after all, was lucky to finish in the upper half of the lower-tier Pac-10 on a regular basis, right? Everything was going to plan.

So, the next year, in 1989, in front of 86,019 highly aspirational fans at the old Stanford Stadium, #1 Notre Dame, a three-touchdown favorite, barely managed to hold off Stanford’s Denny Green-led Cardinal and QB Steve Smith’s school- and conference-record 68 pass attempts, barely escaping Palo Alto with a narrow 27-17 victory. Superstar Raghib “Rocket” Ismail’s 66-yard punt return was a key turning point in deciding the contest in favor of the vespers-valuing visitors. It was an admirable effort, but once again, the Cardinal had received the short end of the lollypop, just the way the folks in South Bend had it all planned out. A guaranteed extra “W” every year, just like the conveniently compliant service academies. Fly out west, check the box, take care of business as usual. Um, not so fast…

The Knutonian narrative changed forever on October 6, 1990, when the Cardinal improbably delivered the victory that produced the famous bold headline in The National: “STUN-FORD!”. Four rushing touchdowns from some random guy named “Touchdown Tommy” Vardell? 36-31, Stanford? Saints preserve us! How dare the “West Coast Wannabes” get an actual win against Notre Dame? And in South Bend? Even “Touchdown Jesus” didn’t see that one coming! Surely such an outrage, such an affront to all that was holy, was a mere anomaly! Except…that it wasn’t.

In 1992, under new head coach Bill Walsh, in his second stint on the Farm, Stanford stunned the #1-ranked Irish yet again, coming from 16-0 down to win 33-16! Safety John Lynch had lit up formidable fullback Jerome Bettis in memorable fashion! Some still argue that that historic hit by Lynch, in that remarkable comeback, represented the moment “Stanford-Notre Dame” stopped being a “series” and became a “rivalry”.

The expectation of one-sidedness suddenly required fresh consideration. Maybe Stanford was going to be a perennial problem, a persistent thorn in the Irish side, a gridiron growler in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes!

Back to our topic of the day. In 1999, in the final game of the regular season, it was time for Notre Dame to play the spoiler. Stanford was headed to Pasadena, but the Irish hoped to plague the Cardinal’s path to glory. Sure, Notre Dame, under third-year head coach Bob Davie, came in just 5-6. But hey, they had beaten Oklahoma and USC and featured QB Jarius Jackson, running back Tony Fisher, and a future NFL running back in freshman phenom Julius Jones returning kicks. Four of the six Irish losses in 1999 had come against nationally-ranked teams. Just the week prior they had lost a 31-29 heartbreaker in the “Holy War” against Boston College following a failed two-point conversion attempt. This had assured the Irish of a losing season, but they arrived in Palo Alto angry and adequately motivated to get a win.

It would be another entertaining classic. Stanford jumped out to an early 14-0 lead after a 62-yard touchdown pass from QB Todd Husak to speedy All-American and 1999 Biletnikoff Award-winning WR Troy Walters and a 37-yard fumble return touchdown by underappreciated wide receiver-turned strong safety Aaron Focht (#26). That was probably the most impactful single play in Focht’s entire college career, although he did also intercept Cal QB Wes Dalton the week before during the 1999 Big Game! Focht was actually one heck of a football player, having accounted for 5,700 all-purpose yards and 83 TDs in high school! (um, that is approximately 83 more TDs than I scored in high school!).

After the Cardinal had established a surprising 17-0 lead, the belligerent Bead-stringers came bounding back, outscoring the Cardinal 29-6 and taking a 29-23 lead just minutes into the second half. Momentum had shifted, monumentally, and things were looking rather perilous for the Sheriff of Willingham’s proud pigskin posse.

In front of a nationally televised audience on ABC, Stanford dug deep and drove 68 yards on its final possession and sophomore placekicker Mike Biselli rose to the occasion! As time expired, Biselli nailed his fourth field goal of the day from 22 yards out and Stanford defeated Notre Dame 40-37, after which Mike was lifted triumphantly into the air by 6-7, 300-pound OT Jeff Cronshagen. The epic victory secured Stanford's 8-3 record for the regular season and denied Notre Dame a .500 record, as they finished a disappointing 5-6.

Pre-game prognostication and speculative point spreads matter less than effort and energy. The Legends Trophy is right there for the taking! Beat The Irish! Let’s win one…. for “The Reicher”!