national title five straight years, with USC winning in 1928, 1931, and 1932, and Notre Dame winning in 1929 and 1930. 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. 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." Notable Games: 1929 – Notre Dame 13, USC 12 This game played at Soldier field has the second largest verified attendance in the history of NCAA football at 112,912. 1930 – Notre Dame 27, USC 0 Notre Dame won its second consecutive national championship (and third overall) and 19th straight game in what turned out to be the last regular season game under coach Knute Rockne. 1931 – USC 16, Notre Dame 14 More than 300,000 fans welcomed the Trojans home from this thrilling victory in South Bend — a victory clinched by what sportswriter Maxwell Stiles called "Johnny Baker's 10 little toes and three BIG points." After trailing 14–0, USC won the game with a Johnny Baker 33-yard field goal with one minute remaining. The win snapped Notre Dame's 26-game unbeaten string and was the Trojans' first win in South Bend. Called "the biggest upset since Mrs. O'Leary's cow knocked over that lantern" by El Rodeo, USC's student yearbook, it clinched USC's second national title. Sports historians cite this come-from-behind victory with Jones as coach that prompted the school from the West to catapult into the same elite circle with ND. 1932 – USC 13, Notre Dame 0 USC shut out Notre Dame on its way to a second consecutive consensus national title, matching Notre Dame's feat in 1929 and 1930. 1938 – USC 13, Notre Dame 0 Notre Dame entered the game ranked No. 1 in the scheduled final AP Poll, released in late November prior to the game. Following their loss, the AP poll was extended for one week due to the "select quality of last Saturday's games, three of which had a direct bearing on the ranking." USC's win dropped the Irish to No. 5 and out of AP national championship consideration. 1940s–1950s The 1940s were good for the Irish, which earned national titles in 1943, 1946, 1947, and 1949. Meanwhile, USC