The University of California and Notre Dame have been rivals for as far back as the NCAA has been around. Every football season, the two schools duke it out to see who is the best. With every great rivalry comes great loyalty. The students at each school will stand by their institution no matter what happens. On top of that they will do whatever it takes to humiliate the other school. This has been accomplished through a consistent back and forth of vandalism done to each other. This time USC took it to the extreme and set the famous Notre Dame Cathedral ablaze.



The vandalism string started with USC. Back in the early 90s, students from the California school bought a VHS copy of the Disney film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and made a videotape of them spiking regulation sized footballs at the VHS. They then sent the videotape to the captain of the Notre Dame football team in the original casing of the film. This led to a retaliation from the Fighting Irish. The Notre Dame football team sent a wooden horse figurine to the USC football coach. When the coach opened the bottom of the horse, dozens of Trojan condoms poured out onto the coach’s desk.

The feud has gone on for decades since and is still going on today. From graffiti on school buildings to an actual duel between the mascots, the two schools continue their attempts to demoralize the other. Everything seemed even until that mid-April Monday, when the USC Trojans boarded a plane to France.

At 2:00 PM on Monday, the USC players were boarding a plane from LAX to Notre Dame. At least that’s what they thought. The players intended on going to the school, but when searching “airports near Notre Dame” they bought tickets to Charles de Gaulle Airport. After cases of beer and landing in Paris, the drunken team stumbled off of the airplane and began asking locals how to get to Notre Dame. When they arrived at the cathedral they realized their mistake. However this did not sway them from moving on with the plan. At 6:00 PM they pulled out the game ball from their last victory against Notre Dame, lit it on fire, and handed it to JT Daniels. The starting quarterback then hurled the ball into the attic of the cathedral. The players cheered and each began to chug more beer. By 8:00 PM the famous spire had burned to a crisp.

The entire campus of the University of Notre Dame was in a frenzy while watching the famous church burn on their phones. Shortly after the fire began, the starting quarterback of the Indiana School tweeted out his planned response.

“USC pulled a fast one on us by lighting Notre Dame on fire. Let it be known that The Fighting Irish never step down! Watch out forests of California. You’re about to see a whole new wave of wild fires.”

Warrants have been issued for the arrests of all members of both teams. The 2019 College football season starts in August with Arizona vs. Hawaii. Be sure to catch it on ESPN.