A Brief History of the Penn State Vs. Notre Dame Rivalry

The Nittany Lions and Fighting Irish meet for the 20th time in the Orange Bowl. The winner gets a shot at the national championship.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team huddles before a play against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second quarter at Beaver Stadium in 2007. / James Lang-Imagn Images

Penn State and Notre Dame will meet for the 20th time in each program’s long history at the Orange Bowl, but this time, the stakes of this classic rivalry will be sky-high: The winner will play for its first national championship since the 1980s.

Both teams have found success through dominating the line of scrimmage this season. Both have significant fan bases in Pennsylvania. And both have long, rich histories as traditional college football programs. Ahead of the Orange Bowl, here’s the breakdown of the all-time series between Penn State and Notre Dame. 

The Nittany Lions and Fighting Irish will break a tie in the all-time rivalry when they face off Thursday: The series is knotted at 9-9-1. Penn State vs. Notre Dame dates back to 1913, but the teams are meeting for the first time since 2007.

When was the first Penn State-Notre Dame game?

On Nov. 7, 1913, Penn State lined up against Notre Dame in State College. The Fighting Irish won that game 14-7, marking the beginning of a rivalry that spans more than 100 years.

When Joe Paterno took over as the Nittany Lions head coach in 1966, his program had already faced Notre Dame four times. Paterno, who did not coach against Notre Dame until 1976, went 9-6 vs. the Irish, including a 31-10 win in their last meeting in 2007. The tie? In 1925, the teams finished in a 0-0 stalemate. 

Penn State vs. Notre Dame in the postseason

Thursday’s Orange Bowl will be just the second postseason meeting between Penn State and Notre Dame. The first came in the 1976 Gator Bowl, which the Fighting Irish won 20-9, one season before claiming their 10th national championship. Nearly 50 years later, Penn State coach James Franklin and Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman will match up with a national championship berth on the line.

Penn State vs. Notre Dame in the ‘12-year-war’

The series hit its peak from 1981-1992, when the programs played each other annually, usually in late November before the Nittany Lions took on Pitt. Both programs were consistent top-tier teams in college football throughout the 1980s, facing one another on their paths to titles on multiple occasions.

Penn State notched three consecutive wins over Notre Dame from 1981-1983, including a 24-14 road victory at Notre Dame Stadium in 1982 when the Nittany Lions won their first national championship. Penn State quarterback Todd Blackledge threw two touchdown passes, and an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter that included a safety helped the Nittany Lions improve to 9-1 on the season.  

Just a few years later, Penn State once again had to defeat Notre Dame on its way to a title. The Nittany Lions went unbeaten in 1986 to claim their second and most recent national championship, but one of their toughest challenges came in November against the Fighting Irish. Penn State, 9-0 entering the November matchup, jumped out to a 24-13, fourth-quarter lead over the Fighting Irish behind quarterback John Shaffer. Notre Dame pulled within five thanks to their own quarterback, Steve Beurlein, but ultimately fell short 24-19. 

The Fighting Irish flipped the script in 1988, defeating Penn State 21-3 en route to the program’s most recent national championship, which came with a win over West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Penn State-Notre Dame rivalry hit a new peak in 1990. Penn State, ranked No. 18 at the time, upset the No. 1 Fighting Irish, 24-21, in South Bend. Terry Smith, a former wide receiver and the Nittany Lions’ current cornerbacks coach, and Al Golden, now Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator, both caught touchdown passes for Penn State in its comeback effort.

Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993, ending the 12-year run of games, and the teams finished with a gem. Notre Dame beat Penn State 17-16 in 1992 in what has become known as the “Snow Bowl.” The Fighting Irish made a last-second comeback, as head coach Lou Holtz went for a two-point conversion, and quarterback Rick Mirer’s pass to running back Reggie Brooks won it.

The Penn State-Notre Dame series returns

The teams revived their rivalry for a two-game series in 2006-07. Both home teams won those matchups. In 2006, the Fighting Irish coasted to a 41-17 win over the Nittany Lions in South Bend, as quarterback Brady Quinn threw for 287 yards and three touchdown passes in the win.

The last time Penn State met Notre Dame marked a special moment in Nittany Lions history: the first full-stadium White Out in Beaver Stadium. Penn State was ranked No. 14 at the time, and although it faced an early 7-0 deficit, the team rolled to a 31-10 win. The highlight: Derrick Williams’ 78-yard punt return for a touchdown. 

Last time Penn State played Notre Dame?

Derrick Williams sent the first full Beaver Stadium White Out into a frenzy. pic.twitter.com/wKGbAOlE4d

— DylanCallaghanCroley (@RivalsDylanCC) January 2, 2025

Since then, these two historic programs haven’t seen one another. Chapter No. 20 of the Penn State-Notre Dame rivalry will come in the Orange Bowl as each team pursues its first title of the College Football Playoff era.

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Daniel Mader, a May 2024 graduate of Penn State, is an Editorial Intern with The Sporting News. As a student journalist with The Daily Collegian, he served as a sports editor and covered Nittany Lions women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and more. He has also covered Penn State football for NBC Sports and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with additional work in the Centre Daily Times, Lancaster Online and more. Follow him on X @DanielMader_    or Instagram @dmadersports.