17 The Fighting Irish flew into Los Angeles for this Thanksgiving-weekend game undefeated and ranked #3 in the country. The Trojans were 5–6, and still had a chance at a bowl game bid. The underdog Trojan hosts gave their Fighting Irish guests a scare in the early going by taking a 10–0 lead. However, Notre Dame got the offense going late in the second quarter, and quarterback Ian Book led his team to 24 unanswered points. He completed 22 of 39 passes for 352 yards. The Trojans' true freshman quarterback JT Daniels completed 7 out of 10 passes in a late drive which culminated in a 20-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Vaughns with 48 seconds left. But, the subsequent onside kick failed and Notre Dame ran the clock out to complete an undefeated regular season. Trophy: Jeweled Shillelagh The Jeweled Shillelagh (shi-LAY-lee) is the trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Notre Dame–USC football rivalry game. The shillelagh, an Irish club, is made of oak or blackthorn saplings from Ireland. On the end of the club is engraved the following: From the Emerald Isle. The trophy was introduced in 1952 to commemorate the first game in the series played on December 4, 1926. 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." For each victory, a respective jeweled ornament is added to the foot-long club. For each USC victory, a ruby-adorned Trojan head is added, marked with the year and game score; for each Notre Dame victory, a similarly detailed emerald-studded shamrock is added. For tie games, a combined Trojan head/shamrock medallion is used (in 1996 NCAA changed the rules to allow for overtime and thus no more ties are possible). Although the shillelagh was introduced in 1952, the medallions go back to the start of the series in 1926. In 1996, after USC defeated Notre Dame for the first time in 14 years, Notre Dame did not turn over the shillelagh, stating that it had run out of space for the Trojan heads and shamrocks after the 1989 game. The original shillelagh was retired in a 1995 ceremony and is now permanently displayed at Notre Dame. Instead, Jim Gillis, former head of the