The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame

The opening paragraph of a sports story written by Grantland Rice, one of the most famous sportswriters of all time, immortalized the 1924 Notre Dame backfield comprised of quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, left halfback Jim Crowley, right halfback Don Miller, and fullback Elmer Layden.

Describing Notre Dame's 13-7 upset of the Army on October 18, 1924, Rice wrote these words:

“Outlined against a blue-gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.”

Rice’s words alone might have been enough to catapult the four players to glory. Their immortality was assured when an enterprising student publicist named George Strickler led four horses to the practice field a few days later for a soon-to-be-iconic photograph. All four of the Notre Dame backs mounted horses for the first time in their lives and became forever known as the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.

Johnny Lujack's Famous Tackle

Johnny Lujack played all 60 minutes in the “Game of the Century” against Army before 74,000 fans in Yankee Stadium in 1946. The most famous play of his career came in the second quarter, when Lujack, from his defensive position, made a diving, open-field tackle at the Irish 36 to bring down Army’s “Mr. Inside” -- Felix “Doc” Blanchard, the 1945 Heisman Trophy winner. Lujack’s tackle prevented a touchdown, preserved an epic 0-0 tie, and essentially clinched the 1946 national title for the Fighting Irish.

While his most famous play was a tackle, Lujack was known to be pretty good on offense, too. Notre Dame won three national titles – in 1943, 1946, and 1947 -- with Lujack as a starting quarterback.

In 1943, Lujack was chosen by head coach Frank Leahy as the “next man in” after starting quarterback Angelo Bertelli, who had led the Irish to victory in the first six games of the season, was called to active duty in the United States Marines -- in mid-season! The Irish won three of the last four games with Lujack as the new Irish signal caller. Bertelli was awarded the Heisman Trophy that year, and Notre Dame was awarded the national championship. Notre Dame’s only loss that season would turn out to be the only loss of Lujack’s collegiate career.

Johnny Lujack’s career record as Notre Dame's starting quarterback is simply incredible: 21-1-1. His .935 winning percentage is – and quite possibly always will be -- the best in school history among Irish quarterbacks. What makes his achievement even more astonishing is that his time on the playing field was interrupted for two years of active duty during World War II. After helping his Notre Dame team complete the drive to the national title in 1943, Lujack served as an ensign in the United States Navy (in 1944 and 1945 he was aboard a sub-chaser hunting German submarines in the English Channel) before returning to Notre Dame to lead the Fighting Irish to two more national titles in 1946 and 1947.

Johnny Lujack’s name is engraved on the 1947 Heisman Trophy.

How to Pronounce Knute Rockne's Name Correctly

The name of Knute Rockne is, without question, the greatest name associated with Notre Dame football. Unfortunately, millions of people – including legions of Notre Dame fans and, sadly, far too many Notre Dame students and alumni – unknowingly mispronounce his first name.

The name "Knute" sounds like "Kuh-newt," as was explained by no less a personage than President Ronald Reagan during the dedication ceremony for a 22-cent postage stamp honoring Knute Rockne issued in 1988.

The 40th President of the United States was well aware of the proper way to pronounce Rockne’s first name, just as he was well aware that many in the audience that day did not know how to do so. Speaking at the dedication ceremony for the Rockne postage stamp held at Notre Dame on March 9, 1988, Reagan said “Now, let me explain, I may be saying the name differently, but when we made the picture we were told, and Bonnie [Mrs. Knute Rockne] upheld it to us, that it was Knute [Kuh-newt] -- not Knute [newt]. So, you'll have to get used to me saying it that way.”

Reagan noted that during the filming of the motion picture Knute Rockne: All-American, in which Reagan himself played legendary Notre Dame football star George Gipp, those making the movie consulted Rockne's widow Bonnie, who explained that you actually pronounce the "K" in Knute, and that “Kuh-newt” was the pronunciation the great coach himself preferred.

From this moment on, if you would like to respect the wishes of Rockne’s family and give Knute’s name the respect it truly deserves, pronounce the name correctly, using the pronunciation Coach Rockne himself preferred.

Use four syllables, not three. Don’t let the “K” be silent.

It’s not “Newt Rock-ne.”

The name is correctly pronounced “Kuh-newt Rock-ne.”

Now if we could only get America’s sports announcers to learn to say it right…

Shake down the thunder. Go Irish!

The Ten Commandments of Notre Dame

Written nearly three decades ago, my book (The Gipper’s Ghost: A Story of the Spirit of Notre Dame by Robert A. Quakenbush) introduced the Ten Commandments of Notre Dame. In the book, the most important is the Tenth Commandment of Notre Dame: Thou shalt never lose to USC.

Interestingly enough, after the book was first published, and while it remained in print, Notre Dame didn’t lose to USC for more than a decade! You can look it up in the Notre Dame record books!

The book was out of print for many years, but a couple of years ago (after The Gipper’s Ghost was published in electronic format as an Amazon Kindle edition on Sunday, November 18, 2012), Notre Dame beat USC the following Saturday to finish a perfect 12-0 season. As they say, God does work in mysterious ways...

Here are all ten of the Ten Commandments of Notre Dame, as first published in The Gipper’s Ghost in 1985:

I. Thou shalt not tarnish the image of Notre Dame.

II. Thou shalt always remember the importance of alumni contributions, and score touchdowns accordingly.

III. Remember to always keep protected thy quarterback.

IV. Honor thy coach.

V. Thou shalt not fumble.

VI. Thou shalt not get caught in the act of committing a needless penalty.

VII. Thou shalt not sell thy Notre Dame football tickets above their actual face value.

VIII. Thou shalt not be a hot dog.

IX. Thou shalt not covet thy opponent’s cheerleaders.

X. Thou shalt never lose to USC.


Go Irish!

"Win One for the Gipper"

Knute Rockne and George Gipp are considered, respectively, the greatest coach and greatest player in the history of Notre Dame football.

Their names are inextricably linked in Fighting Irish lore. Gipp played for Rockne during the earliest years of his coaching career, and he led the Irish in rushing and passing in each of his last three seasons (1918, 1919, and 1920). His career mark of 2,341 rushing yards lasted more than half a century at Notre Dame. Rockne is widely considered the greatest coach in the history of football, at any level, pro or college. During Rockne's 13 years as head football coach at Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish won three consensus national championships (1924, 1929, and 1930) and completed five unbeaten and untied seasons. Rockne’s lifetime winning percentage of .881 (105 wins, 12 losses, and 5 ties) still ranks at the top of the list for both collegiate and professional football.

But it was a speech that Rockne gave to his team on November 10, 1928 -- in which he told his players a story about Gipp’s deathbed wish for a future Notre Dame team -- that would bind these names together for all time and immortalize five words that are not only well-known to legions of Notre Dame, but together comprise the most famous rallying cry in all of sports: Win One for the Gipper.

The exact words Rockne spoke at halftime that day in New York’s Yankee Stadium may never be known, but generations of Notre Dame fans have heard or memorized the famous locker room speech delivered by actor Pat O’Brien, in a re-creation of the moment in the 1940 Warner Brothers film, Knute Rockne – All American. Here are those words, as spoken by Pat O’Brien, who played the role of Rockne in the film:

Well, boys ... I haven't a thing to say. Played a great game...all of you. Great game. I guess we just can't expect to win ’em all. I'm going to tell you something I've kept to myself for years -- None of you ever knew George Gipp. It was long before your time. But you know what a tradition he is at Notre Dame... And the last thing he said to me -- "Rock," he said -- "sometime, when the team is up against it -- and the breaks are beating the boys -- tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper... I don't know where I'll be then, Rock", he said - "but I'll know about it - and I'll be happy."

In the film and in real life, the Notre Dame players responded to Rockne’s “Win One for the Gipper” speech. On that legendary November day in Yankee Stadium, Irish halfback Jack Chevigny scored the tying touchdown, and Johnny O’Brien scored the winning touchdown as the Fighting Irish rallied for a come-from-behind victory over Army.

As Chevigny crossed the goal line, he reportedly yelled out, “That’s one for the Gipper.”

"God. Country. Notre Dame"

“God. Country. Notre Dame.”

This motto above the doors of the east entrance of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart is known to all of the loyal sons and daughters of Notre Dame.

The entrance is actually a war memorial, created to honor Notre Dame men in the armed services who gave their lives during World War I. in 1920, the Notre Dame Service Club launched an effort to raise funds for a memorial in the pages of the May 1, 1920, issue of The Notre Dame Scholastic, noting “The students and alumni who left their callings in 1917 to take up arms that liberty might be preserved, gave up much more than we are called upon to give.” The very next sentence may have helped to inspire the motto on the memorial: “The Notre Dame spirit – the spirit of loyalty to God, country, and school – was in the hearts of these men.”

The Service Club was “endeavoring to raise two thousand dollars” for a suitable memorial. “Let us, who have been spared through the supreme sacrifice of our brave brothers, get together and help effectively to the erection of this monument, which will be a suitable memorial to the deeds and valor of the Notre Dame men who laid down their lives.”