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Top 10 Vs. Top 10 Showdown At Notre Dame Stadium

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No. 7 Stanford takes on No. 8 Notre Dame Saturday night in South Bend.
No. 7 Stanford takes on No. 8 Notre Dame Saturday night in South Bend. (Matt Cashore/USA TODAY Sports)
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Since the end of the 1993 college football season, different droughts can be pointed to in the ebb of the Notre Dame football operation during that time.

The most popular to use is the lack of a consensus national title in the past 29 years, easily eclipsing the previous high of 16 seasons from 1950-65 — although even the 1964 unit won a share of the title with Alabama and Arkansas.

Then there is the 24-year (and counting) streak of not even winning a major bowl (now known as Big Six) while at least three dozen other schools in that span have. In the 25 previous years from 1969-93, or when the Fighting Irish returned to the bowl scene in ’69, they had won 10 — the most in the country over that quarter-century run.

A third element hit home this week: The showdown this Saturday night between No. 7 Stanford and No. 8 Notre Dame will mark the first time since Oct. 15, 2005 that two top-10 teams will meet in Notre Dame Stadium.

The battle 13 years ago was No. 1 USC’s dramatic last-second 34-31 victory versus the No. 9 Fighting Irish in head coach Charlie Weis’ debut season.

What stings even more is that Notre Dame has not won one of these top 10 vs. top 10 matchups on its home field since another epic event, the 31-24 win versus No. 1 Florida State on Nov. 13, 1993 that temporarily put the No. 2 Irish at the top spot.

Now, Notre Dame did defeat No. 8 Michigan at home in 2004 (28-20) — but that was when the Irish were unranked after finishing 5-7 the year prior and then opening 2004 with a 20-17 upset loss at BYU.

Since 1993, Notre Dame actually won two top 10 vs. top 10 matchups, but both were in the opponent’s stadium.

The first was in head coach Lou Holtz’s final season in 1996, when No. 9 Notre Dame got a 39-yard field goal by freshman Jim Sanson as time expired to notch a 27-24 win at No. 6 Texas.

Alas, the No. 5 Irish lost at home the following week to No. 4 Ohio State, 29-16.

The second such win occurred Oct. 27, 2012, when third-year head coach Brian Kelly’s No. 5 Irish defeated No. 8 Oklahoma (30-13) in Norman.

However, in the 24 seasons from 1994-2017, Notre Dame is 2-12 overall (including bowl games) in top 10 vs. top 10 tilts, with the most recent such contest the 41-8 loss last Nov. 11 at Miami when the Irish were No. 3 and the Hurricanes No. 7.

To put into context how long that 13-year drought in Notre Dame Stadium has been with a top 10 vs. top 10 matchup, consider that under Holtz from November 1987 (when No. 7 Notre Dame defeated No. 10 Alabama, 37-6) to the aforementioned Ohio State loss in 1996, the Irish had 11 such games on its home field, posting an 8-0-1 ledger from 1987-93.

Since the start of the Associated Press poll in 1936, Notre Dame is 22-11-1 in top 10 vs. top 10 contests at home.

Holtz led the way at 8-2-1, while Frank Leahy was 7-1 from 1942-43 and then 1947-53, and Ara Parseghian 5-3 from 1965-73.

In his six seasons (1975-80), Dan Devine had only one such home game, a 42-23 loss to USC in 1979. (The famous 1977 Green Jersey Game that helped propel the national title had USC No. 5 while the Irish were No. 11.)

This will be Kelly’s debut at home in such a contest, and he also has an eight-game winning streak going at home, the longest since the 10 in a row that extended from the last two home contests in 2011 through the first two in 2013.

“We thrive on our home field,” Kelly said. “We’ve had a good run going at home. To have a home game against a top-10 opponent when you're a top-10 team, these are the moments that you wait for, and we're certain that I think we’re going to be met with a great crowd.”

It’s time!

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