However, while Notre Dame and USC have defeated the other in landmark games enabling one of them to move on to a national title, the two teams have also played spoiler to each other several times.

In odd-numbered years, when the game is played in South Bend, it is broadcast on NBC as part of its coverage of Notre Dame's home schedule.

The origin of the series is quite often recounted as a "conversation between wives"[11] of Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne and USC athletic director Gwynn Wilson.

[11] While the "wives story" remains the classic explanation for starting the series, college football historian Murray Sperber, who in researching his book on the early days of Notre Dame football, Shake Down the Thunder, uncovered a different explanation for the creation of the series that somewhat contradicts the story.

Part of the concern over commercialism stemmed from the large money payouts teams would receive by traveling long distances to play in bowl games.

[12] Meanwhile, Notre Dame had difficulty scheduling local Western Conference opponents because of a ban placed on member schools from playing them.

[12] Coach Rockne and the Notre Dame administration realized how lucrative an annual trip to Los Angeles would be for the football program.

[12] Notre Dame's West Coast alumni began lobbying Rockne to bring the team to the Rose Bowl as a season finale every year.

[12] The Rose Bowl Committee favored this arrangement (at the time there was no tie in with the Big Ten); however, the Pacific Coast Conference had reservations.

[12] While the creation of the series was contradictory to Notre Dame's efforts to follow the Big Ten in combating commercialism (the Big Ten had a 26-year Bowl ban, which Notre Dame followed even longer), Rockne and other administrators justified the game since it was created as a home-and-home series, only to be played in Los Angeles every other year.

To the priests who ran Notre Dame, playing USC in Los Angeles every other year was preferable to making further trips to the Rose Bowl game.

[10][12][13] Rockne would often entertain such advances and let the news slip out to the Notre Dame administration in order to get a raise and bolster his position internally and nationally.

[12] While Rockne ultimately turned down the offer, he recommended that USC look at his friend Howard Jones, whom he knew from taking his Notre Dame teams to play Iowa.

[13] The creation of the series was likely influenced by their friendship, and by Jones' desire to take USC to Notre Dame's elite level.

[10] The following year, Notre Dame and USC would play a memorable game at Soldier Field in Chicago, a slim 7–6 Irish victory.

[15]: 115  During this period, there was some talk of canceling the series due to the long amount of travel time it took by train from South Bend to Los Angeles.

[12] Rockne argued for the series against the Notre Dame faculty board and its chair, Father Michael Mulcaire, countering that "he saw the day coming when most college teams will be going by air exclusively.

[16] From 2002 – 2009, USC defeated Notre Dame eight straight times, in some games winning in a lopsided fashion unprecedented in the series.

A capacity crowd and a national television audience saw USC quarterback Carson Palmer throw for 425 yards and four touchdowns—then Notre Dame opponent records.

[23] Notre Dame briefly took a 13–10 lead, but Palmer led the Trojans on a 75-yard drive in just over a minute culminating in a pass that sailed over the outstretched hands of two Irish defenders and into the waiting arms of Mike Williams for a 19-yard touchdown.

[20] After beating the Irish by 31 points each of the past three years, the Trojans came into South Bend to meet Notre Dame and first-year head coach Charlie Weis.

The Trojans stormed back after a 4th and 9 pass by Matt Leinart to Dwayne Jarrett that brought the ball inside the ND 15-yard line.

[30] As Leinart scrambled and tried to dive into the end zone, he was hit hard short of the goal line, and the ball was knocked out of bounds with seven seconds to go.

[30] There was no replay in this game, at the request of coach Pete Carroll, but after huddling, the officials spotted the ball on the one-yard line and put seven seconds back on the clock.

In 2010, USC was sanctioned by the NCAA for displaying a lack of institutional control for its football, men's basketball and women's tennis programs.

With the Irish coming off of two stellar performances against #14 Utah and Army (27–3 at Yankee Stadium), Notre Dame was riding high, while USC was one week removed from one of their most one-sided defeats in the last decade, a 36–7 loss to the Oregon State Beavers and would be starting fifth-year senior and backup QB Mitch Mustain for the first time due to an injury to starter Matt Barkley.

The Irish defense would set the tone early by recovering a fumble by quarterback Sam Darnold on the Trojans' 1st play on offense, the first of 3 turnovers committed by USC during the game.

However, Notre Dame got the offense going late in the second quarter, and quarterback Ian Book led his team to 24 unanswered points.

But, the subsequent onside kick failed and Notre Dame ran the clock out to complete an undefeated regular season.

The trophy was donated by the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles, stating that "this shillelagh will serve to symbolize in part the high tradition, the keen rivalry, and above all the sincere respect which these two great universities have for each other."