What is the Jeweled Shillelagh? History of Notre Dame football, USC's war club trophy
College football is jam-packed with fun trophies, but few are more interesting than a literal war club.
The Jeweled Shillelagh — not to be confused with the Shillelagh Trophies Notre Dame once shared with Northwestern and now shares with Purdue — is the trophy that goes to the winner of the annual game between the Fighting Irish and USC.
The winner of the game gets their logo put on the club: an emerald-adorned shamrock for Fighting Irish wins and a ruby-encrusted Trojan head for USC victories. A combination is used for ties (though the last time that occurred was in 1994, two seasons before the NCAA abolished draws in college football).
Notre Dame leads the series 50-38-5, although only 48 shamrocks and 37 Trojan heads appear on the shillelagh because of vacated wins by USC in 2005 and Notre Dame in 2012 and 2013. This is also the second shillelagh to be used, with the first having run out of space for medallions after 1989.
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Here's everything you need to know about the Jeweled Shillelagh, which is sponsored by DIRECTV in 2023:
What is a shillelagh?
A shillelagh is a Gaelic war club, traditionally made of oak or blackthorn saplings from Ireland. The idea to turn such a weapon (ceremonial or otherwise) has its roots in Notre Dame's Irish iconography.
What is the history of the Jeweled Shillelagh?
Notre Dame vs. USC is a rare rivalry in college football, as it is not determined by geography. It began in earnest in 1926, and the Jeweled Shillelagh has been a part of it since 1952.
The club was presented by the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles, with the explanation 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," per the USC website.
There is a legend surrounding the original Jeweled Shillelagh — designed by John Groen — which is that it was flown back from a trip to Ireland in 1952 by none other than Renaissance Man Howard Hughes' pilot, which led to its introduction. Though the trophy was first introduced in 1952, the medallions used on it reportedly date back to the rivalry's inception in 1926.
Once the original trophy ran out of space in 1989, Jim Gillis — a former baseball player at both USC and Notre Dame — commissioned a new one. Per USC's site, the new trophy, slightly longer than the original, was handcrafted in 1997 in County Leitrim, Ireland. It contains the medallions for every game, beginning from 1990.
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Where is the original Jeweled Shillelagh?
The original Jeweled Shillelagh now resides in South Bend on Notre Dame's campus, with games through 1989.
What is Notre Dame's record vs. USC?
Notre Dame leads the historic series of Notre Dame and USC, 50-38-5.
Notre Dame had a four-game win streak in the rivalry series snapped last year, when Caleb Williams and the Trojans won 38-27. The Irish are looking to reestablish their dominance this year with Sam Hartman at the helm following a disappointing loss to Louisville.
Despite the 38 USC wins, only 37 Trojan heads appear due to the vacated win in 2005. Notre Dame has two vacated wins as well, in 2012 and 2013, resulting in only 48 shamrocks despite its 50 wins.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman knows the significance this game holds for Notre Dame.
“That’s part of what playing at Notre Dame is about," Freeman said of playing late games. "Man, we’re fortunate. We get four primetime games. and that’s how we have to look at it. We get another primetime game vs. USC at Notre Dame Stadium. And if you don’t have the bubbles in your stomach, then you’re not the elite competitor we need you to be.”
The shillelagh is, of course, secondary to the bragging rights of winning this game. The winner of trophy retains it for the year. But the joy of winning a rivalry game endures far longer.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What is the Jeweled Shillelagh? Why Notre Dame, USC play for war club
