Blue and Gold Illustrated

ing a rising power under first-year head coach Charlie Pell. The 7-1-1 Tigers were ranked No. 15 in the country and had future NFL stars on both sides of the ball. The defensive line featured three NFL Draft picks, headlined by first-round selection Jim Stuckey. The offense was even more prominent with linemen Jeff and Joe Bostic, and wide receivers Jerry Butler and Dwight Clark. Butler would be the No. 5 overall pick in a future draft, while Clark was named Sports Il- lustrated's 1982 NFL MVP. Finally, quarterback Steve Fuller was yet another future first-round pick — one who would be taken No. 23 in the 1979 draft while his counterpart at Notre Dame, Joe Montana, wouldn't be taken until the third round that same year by San Francisco. Word was that 49ers head coach Bill Walsh was interested in taking Fuller before Montana. However, his interest waned in Fuller — but he loved the re- ceiver who was working out with him, Clark, and took a flyer on him in the 10th round. The Montana-to-Clark combination would embed itself in NFL lore soon thereafter. As for Notre Dame, it featured 11 starters that would be drafted in the top three rounds, four in the first, five in the second and two in the third. Tight end MacAfee, the Walter Camp Award win- ner, would finish third in the Heisman Trophy balloting, while defensive end Ross Browner was fifth. Each sensed this game might be dif- ferent than the 49-19, 43-10 and 69-14 whippings the Irish had administered on its previous three opponents — USC, Navy and Georgia Tech — all at home. A then-school-record audience of 54,189 was in attendance at Clemson. "My parents were there visiting a close friend and he said, 'You better watch out because they've been waiting a long time for you guys,'" Bradley re- called. "It was the most raucous crowd I played in front of all year. It was a tough, tough place to play a football game. "It's a college town with no pro teams around. That's all they knew and cared about. They were not expecting to lose that game, I can tell you that." "We had to come out underneath the stands," MacAfee said. "As you walk out on the field, you have all these Clemson fans right above you. "Our athletic director, Moose Krause, said, 'Keep your helmets on when you come out and are on the sidelines be- cause they throw stuff at you .' I remem- ber getting pinged with golf balls, fish and that kind of stuff. "Some of the fans said as they were walking through the stadium wearing Notre Dame shirts, they tried to trip them, or throw beer on them." THE GAME Notre Dame asserted itself on its sec- ond possession with a 56-yard touch- down drive capped by fullback Jerome Heavens' five-yard run. After forcing a Clemson turnover near midfield, the Irish then marched to a first down at the Tigers 12-yard line. A fumble by Montana lost three yards and two incomplete passes set up a 32- yard field goal attempt by Dave Reeve that sailed left. That prompted the game's first major momentum shift. Clemson controlled

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