This Win May Have Been the Trojans’ Finest Hour

Sixty-eight years ago today, USC registered what many old Trojans still consider its greatest triumph--the 16-14 upset of Notre Dame at South Bend, Ind.

Then the party started.

Three days later, 300,000 lined Los Angeles’ downtown streets to welcome home the team. Before that, tens of thousands were at the old Santa Fe train station, including most of the student body. A motorcade rolled to city hall, where 50,000 were gathered.

The parade rolled on, down Spring Street and Jefferson Avenue to the campus, the USC band playing “Fight On!” all the way. Confetti fell from everywhere.

In 1931, USC had lost its opener to St. Mary’s, but then won six in a row. Notre Dame, under first-year coach Hunk Anderson, had won 26 straight and was a huge favorite.

The Trojans, who trailed, 14-0, early, pulled it out with less than two minutes left. USC, which had cut the deficit to 14-13, was stalled on its 27-yard line when Gus Shaver threw long to Ray Sparling, who made a leaping catch at the Irish 40.

Then Orv Mohler fooled Notre Dame with a pass to Bob Hall at the 18. And from the 23, with a minute left, Johnny Baker’s field-goal kick was good.

A couple of hours later, USC Coach Howard Jones did something that touched Notre Dame partisans deeply.

He took his team to a South Bend cemetery, to the grave of Knute Rockne, the Irish coach killed the previous spring in a plane crash. Jones placed a wreath at the gravestone and the team observed a minute’s silence.

Then it was home . . . to a Lindbergh-level welcome.

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Also on this date: In 1914, America’s first fully enclosed stadium, the 70,000-seat Yale Bowl, opened. Construction cost: $750,000. . . . In 1959, former heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer, 50, died suddenly of a heart attack in Hollywood. . . . On the same day, Bill Kilmer-led UCLA upset No. 2-ranked USC, 10-3, before 85,917 at the Coliseum. . . . In 1988, Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell, 85, was killed in an auto accident in Scottsdale, Ariz. . . . In 1958, Hall of Fame slugger Mel Ott, 49, was killed in an auto accident in New Orleans. . . . In 1954, USC track star Leon Patterson--the first high schooler to surpass 60 feet in the shotput--died at 21 of a rare kidney disease. . . . In 1934, the New York Yankees bought 19-year-old Joe DiMaggio’s contract from the San Francisco Seals for $25,000.