Alumni Still Recall Rivalry : Raiders, Rams Are Split Over USC-Notre Dame

There’s a lot of tension at the Raider training site in El Segundo this week. It’s silver against black, teammate vs. teammate, friend going nose to nose with friend.

And just what is the cause of all this tension? The club’s 6-6 record? This week’s crucial Monday night game against the Seattle Seahawks? The missing-in-action Raider offense?

No, those problems can wait for next week. This week, there’s another battle on the agenda--USC vs. Notre Dame.

For the alumni of those schools, there’s no middle ground at the Raider camp.

“Irish all the way,” said Raider quarterback Steve Beuerlein, who used to play the same position in South Bend. “They are going to win No. 6 in a row against SC. The only reason I say that is that I don’t think SC can beat Notre Dame anymore.”

Now when that comment was relayed by a reporter to Raider linebacker Rod Martin, a former Trojan, he got the same look in his eye he has been known to get when he sees a helpless quarterback heading his way on a scramble.

“OK,” Martin said, “I’m glad you told me that. I’m going to have to go have a little talk with him about that.”

Before he went in search of Beuerlein, Martin talked about his most memorable USC-Notre Dame battle.

“It was the game when A.D. (Anthony Davis) had those million touchdowns,” Martin said. “We were down, 24-0, came back to beat them, 55-24. That had to be the greatest comeback I’ve ever been associated with.

“The only thing that kind of got back to that emotional level was the Monday night game against Denver this year (when the Raiders were behind, 24-0, and came back to win). The adrenaline and then the happiness shown in thelocker room in Denver felt the same way.”

Actually, Martin’s memory was playing him false. In that 55-24 USC victory, Davis scored 4 touchdowns, 2 fewer than he scored against the Irish in a 45-23 Trojan victory in 1972.

There’s another pro football figure in town who also rates that 1974 Trojan comeback among his memorable moments in this rivalry--John Robinson, the Ram head coach, then a USC assistant.

“A lot of fond memories,” Robinson said of the annual clash between the Irish and Trojans. “In my career, I was 6-1 (against Notre Dame), so there were some good things there.”

Along with the 55-24 affair, however, Robinson places another game.

“The other most dramatic memory is when we played them in 1977 and they came in with the green jerseys,” he said. “That was absolutely a huge game in the history of this rivalry.

“That stadium (in South Bend) probably will never be like it was there for about 45 seconds when they came on the field to play. It was almost unbelievable in terms of the crowd, and they had a national championship football team.

“In ‘72, the (Trojan-Irish) winner won the national championship, USC. In ‘73, the winner was Notre Dame and I think they won the national championship (correct). In ‘74, USC won and won t1751457902and were second in the nation.

“In ‘77, Notre Dame won and was the national champion. In ‘78, we won and were the national champions. In ‘79, we won and were the (No.) 2-ranked team, but it went down to the last for the544104820of 10 games there, 7 or 8 of those games were contributing major factors in deciding the national championship.”

For Robinson, the memories go beyond the mere results. To him, even the pregame buildup remains unforgettable.

“The time prior to the game, when you’re soaking in all this stuff, when you’re walking out on the field, or you come out of that tunnel,” he said.

“I remember an experience with the Notre Dame band in that tunnel in their stadium. The whole band gets in that tunnel, squeezes in tight and then they play that Notre Dame fight song when you’re coming off the field after the pregame warmups. It’s supposed to intimidate you.

“Our guys . . . stood out there and said, ‘Yeah! Yeah!’ (USC assistant) Marv Goux and I stood out there and listened and cheered and it really . . . them off.”

Pete Holohan is now a receiver for Robinson, but, a decade ago, they were on opposite sides. “We went out to warm up in ‘77,” Holohan recalled. “We came back in and (Coach Dan) Devine had put up the green jerseys. There was already a lot of electricity in the air, but that put it over the top.

“No one knew (about the jerseys). It was a complete surprise. At that time, (the movie) “The Longest Yard” was out. They had the mean machine. You know that chant? Well, everybody was going, ‘Green machine! Green machine!’ It was pretty exciting.”

Holohan’s current teammate, running back Greg Bell, recalls an unpleasant memory from his days at Notre Dame.

“We were No. 1 in the country and (the Trojans) were like No. 4 and they beat us up pretty bad,” Bell said. “We were playing Georgia for the national championship and we weren’t too up for anything. We were just worrying about going in and winning the Sugar Bowl. SC was on probation.

“Are they off probation now? This is amazing. I don’t know if this game can be played. Don’t they have to be on probation for this to be a great game?”

For receiver Tim Brown, now of the Raiders, then of the Irish, the most memorable moment occurred 2 seasons ago.

“It was my junior year,” he said. “We were behind by 17 points in the fourth quarter. We came back to win and that pretty much set me up for the Heisman (Trophy) the next year. I got 252 yards of total offense and had a big punt return and a big kickoff return.

“They’ll remember that one as long as football is played.”

Beuerlein was also there for that comeback, but, he said of the rivalry, “Every one was memorable while I was there because all 4 were victories. The last one was the most memorable because it was my last game at Notre Dame and because of the way the game developed (climaxing with the big comeback).

“I think it was a surprise that we finally came back and won one of those close games because that whole year had been a series of heartbreakers. We were losing to all the top teams in the country by a point, 2 points, 3 points. Then, against SC, we finally came back and won one of those games.

“I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”

Which may not be too long if Rod Martin ever catches up to him.

Times staff writer Gene Wojciechowski contributed to this story.