Best 4th Quarters: The Bush Push (2005 USC vs. Notre Dame)

The 2005 USC vs. Notre Dame football game was a regular season game that took place on October 15, 2005 at Notre Dame Stadium. The game between perennial rivals USC and Notre Dame was played for the Jeweled Shillelagh. The game was preceded by much pre-game hype, including a visit by College GameDay. In what became known as the "Bush Push", the game ended when Reggie Bush pushed quarterback Matt Leinart into the end zone for the winning touchdown.

On June 10, 2010, the NCAA retroactively declared Bush ineligible for the entire 2005 season and forced USC to vacate its victory. However, the loss still counts for Notre Dame.

USC came into the game with a 27-game winning streak, including three wins over Notre Dame by 31 points each. They were also defending national champions and were ranked first in the nation. Notre Dame came into the game ranked 9th in the nation, having won four road games, but on a three-game losing streak at home.

The game was much hyped prior to the start, including some expecting it to be a "Game of the Century". ESPN's College GameDay, which began in 1993 during the last Game of the Century, planned to be at the game.Finally, the Notre Dame pep rally, with officials expecting large crowds, was moved to the stadium and was broadcast nationally on ESPNEWS.For the rally, Weis asked several Notre Dame legends to speak; including Tim Brown, Joe Montana and master of ceremonies Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger.

In the pre-game warm-ups, the Irish wore their regular blue jerseys, however, despite Weis' statement that no one should "count on" the use of green jerseys for the game, the Irish came out for the game wearing green.

The game was said to live up to its hype and was the most watched regular season college football game in nine years with 30 million viewers watching. The Trojans kept their winning streaks alive and remained first in both national rankings with a 6–0 record. The Irish, having won four games in a row at Notre Dame Stadium and having a 4–2 record for the season, remained 9th in the AP Poll and dropped only three places to 12th in the Coaches Poll. USC would go on to win the rest of its regular season games, and play in the 2006 Rose Bowl to defend their national championship. However, they would fall to Texas. The Irish also won the rest of their regular season games and accepted a berth in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, where they were beaten by Ohio State.

USC continued to dominate the rivalry, winning the next four meetings to make it eight in a row versus the Irish. Notre Dame finally ended that losing streak in 2010 with a 20–16 victory in Los Angeles; USC's recent dominance, coupled with Notre Dame's earlier 13-game unbeaten streak over USC (1983–95) illustrates the cyclical nature of the Notre Dame–USC football rivalry over the long term.