In 1971 the Trojans went into South Bend with a 2-4 record to take on the 6-0 Irish. The game was interrupted for 20 minutes by a fight on the field. The Trojans ended up pulling the upset, starting a 42-3-3 stretch through three years that included two national championships.

John Papadakis was a senior linebacker for the Trojans, then coached by John McKay, and Papadakis talked about his memories of that game:

"It was intense. Coach McKay was a very intense man; he hated to lose but was humble in victory. The fight was an explosion. It happened near the end of the second period. Notre Dame was undefeated when we went to see them, when we paid them a little visit, and we had exploded for 28 points in the first half.

"So they were down 28-7, we had the ball and we were driving down once again and, out of frustration, some idiot named Marx, Greg Marx, started a fight with, well, the worst guy to pick on, John Vella, because he could wipe out half the Greek Army just with his breath. Well, he started on Vella, and Vella was a brawler. He was my roommate, nobody messed with Vella. Vella took him down and it organically happened. It started with two or three guys here, then it was six guys there and then it was offense versus defense. The state troopers had to come in, the local police couldn’t handle it, it was out of hand. The game stopped for no less than 20 minutes. They started the fight, we finished it.

"Well, that game was my senior year and I can tell you that we were not defeated the rest of the year and we once again became a tough team. We won with pride and felt satisfied after that game. We recovered an identity, which was very valuable.

"Not only that, Coach McKay himself changed his demeanor somewhat after that game. He was short on words but there was great gravity to what he would say. After the game he said, 'Thank you, men, it looks like we’re back to our winning ways.' That’s all. He had the cigar, the Coke and the big smile. It was very satisfying -- we felt like we were in it together again. He started reaching out to the players more and that continued into the '72 team, which was one of the greatest college football teams of all time, if not the greatest."