Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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before an electric Notre Dame crowd that had "Faust Fever" saw the Irish score touchdowns on three of their first four possessions, with Blair Kiel and Tim Koegel alternating at quarter- back, for a 20-0 lead. The performance helped vault the Irish from No. 4 to No. 1. Just like Notre Dame head coach Terry Bren- nan in 1954, Faust reaches the summit in rankings after his initial game. "I think I'll retire now," Faust joked afterwards. 6. NOV. 22, 1986: LSU 21, NOTRE DAME 19 Head coach Lou Holtz's debut sea- son saw his Irish put up the good fight again at Death Valley before falling to 4-6. Notre Dame lost by one (24-23) to Big Ten champion Michigan, by two at SEC champ LSU and by five to na- tional champ Penn State (24-19), plus 20-15 at Michigan State and 10-9 to Pitt. Earlier in the game, Notre Dame's John Carney kicked a field goal, but an LSU penalty prompted the Irish to take the points off the board to con- tinue a touchdown drive. When that stalled, Carney's field goal attempt then missed. 7. NOV. 23, 1985: LSU 10, NOTRE DAME 7 Faust's Notre Dame debut was ver- sus the Tigers, and his final game at Notre Dame Stadium also was against LSU, which blocked two Carney field goal attempts in this win. A late Irish drive ended when a pass bounced off sophomore wide receiver Tim Brown's chest, resulting in an in- terception. Brown would bounce back well in his career. 8. NOV. 20, 1971: LSU 28, NOTRE DAME 8 In an ugly, hostile environment at Baton Rouge in which the favorite cry is "Go to hell, Notre Dame!" No. 14 LSU hands Irish head coach Ara Par- seghian his largest margin of defeat in his eight seasons, with a late score averting the shutout. Notre Dame already had rejected a Gator Bowl bid the week of the game with an 8-1 record, and the 8-2 fin- ish marked the first time Parseghian's troops finish outside the top 10. 9. DEC. 28, 1997: LSU 27, NOTRE DAME 9 After the no-turnover, no-penalty performance a month earlier at Baton Rouge, the two teams had a rematch at the Independence Bowl in snowy Shreveport. This time, led by running back Rondell Mealey's 222 yards rush- ing, the Tigers avenged the loss with head coach and Notre Dame alumnus Gerry DiNardo. Irish head coach Bob Davie's initial Irish campaign ended 7-6. A few months later in a conference room at Notre Dame, we noticed something sticking out in an isolated bookcase. It was the participation tro- phy from the Independence Bowl. 10. JAN. 3, 2007: LSU 41, NOTRE DAME 14 No. 11 Notre Dame had another chance to end its 13-year drought without a major bowl victory versus No. 4 LSU. The Tigers rushed for 245 yards while quarterback JaMarcus Russell may have clinched being the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft with 332 passing yards. ✦