Notre Dame's Greatest Games Since 2000

When Fox Sports' Joel Klatt ranked his top college football games since 2000, he put the 2005 Notre Dame–USC "Bush Push" game at No. 1 — and it's easy to see why the topic sparked a real "I remember watching it" reaction. That game alone is a masterclass in what makes a great football game: constant lead changes, a Heisman winner, a bitter rivalry, and an all-time controversial finish. But it's far from the only Notre Dame game from the last 25 years that belongs in the conversation. Here's a look at some of the games that define the Irish's modern era.

The Heartbreak: USC, 2005 — "The Bush Push"

This is the one that still stings, and the one that still gets brought up on podcasts two decades later. Unranked, four-and-one Notre Dame — in year one under Charlie Weis — hosted a USC team riding a 27-game win streak with two Heisman winners in the backfield. The lead changed hands throughout, with the Irish up 31-28 in the final minutes. USC drove into range, appeared to be stopped short of the goal line as time expired, and then Reggie Bush shoved quarterback Matt Leinart into the end zone on the game's final play — a shove that wasn't a penalty under the rules at the time. USC escaped 34-31. It remains one of the most replayed, most argued-about finishes in the sport's history, and it's the game most associated with Notre Dame in any "greatest games" conversation since 2000.

The Statement Win: Oklahoma, 2012

Notre Dame's 2012 season is remembered for the eventual national title game loss to Alabama, but the game that actually made that season feel real was a road win over Oklahoma. It was widely seen as the moment that vaulted the Irish from "surprising and undefeated" to legitimate national title contender — the win that made the rest of the country start taking Brian Kelly's team seriously. Notre Dame ran the table the rest of the regular season on the strength of that statement.

The Signature Upset: No. 1 Clemson, 2020

If Bush Push is Notre Dame's most famous loss of the era, the 2020 double-overtime win over top-ranked Clemson is arguably its most famous modern win. With Trevor Lawrence out due to COVID-19 and freshman D.J. Uiagalelei starting in his place, Notre Dame jumped out early, survived a furious Clemson rally that forced overtime, and then rode three touchdown runs from Kyren Williams — including the eventual game-winner — to a 47-40 victory. It ended Clemson's 36-game regular-season winning streak and gave Notre Dame its first win over an AP No. 1 team since 1993. Fans stormed the field in the middle of a pandemic; it was, by most accounts, the loudest Notre Dame Stadium had been in over a decade.

The Blowout Statement: USC, 2017

Not every great game has to come down to the final play. Notre Dame's 49-14 demolition of USC in 2017 stands out simply because of how rare it is for both programs to be ranked in the top 15 at the same time, as they were that October — the first time that had happened since the 2006 meeting. The Irish took control early and never let up, and it remains one of the most convincing wins of the rivalry's modern stretch.

The Road Classic: LSU, 2014 Music City Bowl

Notre Dame limped into this game on a four-game losing streak with Brian Kelly's job security being questioned nationally, a seven-point underdog against an LSU team with Leonard Fournette in the backfield. Instead, the Irish took the opening drive down the field for a touchdown and held on for a 31-28 win that's remembered less for the stakes and more for simply being an excellent, hard-fought football game at a moment the program badly needed one.

The Defensive Grind: Stanford, 2012

Before the Oklahoma win vaulted Notre Dame into title contention, the Irish had to get through Stanford — and they did it in overtime, 20-13, with a goal-line stand that's become one of the most replayed defensive sequences of the Kelly era. It wasn't flashy. It was Notre Dame playing exactly the kind of physical, run-the-ball, control-the-clock football that had, for years, been Stanford's own signature — and beating the Cardinal at their own game.

Why These Games Still Matter

What ties all of these together isn't just the final score — it's that each one reflects something bigger about where the program stood at that moment. Bush Push was Notre Dame announcing it was ready to compete with the sport's best again under a new coach. Oklahoma and Stanford in 2012 were the turning point that took the Irish to a national title game. LSU in 2014 was survival. Clemson in 2020 was proof the program could still win the biggest possible regular-season game against a genuine blueblood.

Twenty-five years in, it says something about Notre Dame's place in the sport that a Fox Sports analyst's list of the best games since 2000 — a list covering hundreds of games across every conference — still runs straight through South Bend.