1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1978 college football season.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 9	2:30pm	Missouri	#5	Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN		L 0–3	59,075
September 23	12:50pm	#5 Michigan	#14	Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN (Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry)	ABC	L 14–28	59,075
September 30	2:30pm	Purdue		Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)		W 10–6	59,075
October 7	1:30pm	at Michigan State		Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Megaphone Trophy)		W 29–25	77,087
October 14	12:40pm	#9 Pittsburgh		Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN	ABC	W 26–17	59,075
October 21	3:30pm	at Air Force	#20	Falcon Stadium • Colorado Springs, CO		W 38–15	35,425
October 28	2:30pm	Miami	#19	Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN		W 20–0	59,075
November 4	1:50pm	vs. #11 Navy	#15	Cleveland Municipal Stadium • Cleveland, OH		W 27–7	63,780
November 11	1:30pm	Tennessee	#14	Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN		W 31–14	59,075
November 18	1:30pm	at #20 Georgia Tech	#10	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA		W 38–21	54,526
November 25	4:10pm	at #3 USC	#8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh)	ABC	L 25–27	84,256
January 1	2:00pm	vs. #9 Houston	#10	Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX (1979 Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	W 35–34	32,500
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

The Cotton Bowl win was Notre Dame's 600th victory in school history. ^[1]

Game notes

Pitt

Notre Dame handed Pittsburgh is first loss of the season. Jerome Heavens, who had never seen Knute Rockne, All American, surpassed George Gipp on the school's all-time rushing list. Heavens passed Gipp on his 24th carry but lost yardage on his 25th before moving pass him for good on his 26th attempt. ""I think the Gipper tackled me on that," Heavens said.

^[2]

References