Notre Dame Football’s Greatest Upsets: The Wins and Losses That Shocked the World

Happy September 1!

Some of college football has started, while Notre Dame fans have to wait until Sunday for the Fighting Irish season to kick off.

That's good or bad, depending on how you choose to look at it, but September 1 marks a special day in the history of college football.

It's the anniversary of one of the greatest upsets in the entire history of sports, let alone all of college football.

On this day in 2007, little-known Appalachian State walked into the Big House and shocked No. 5 Michigan, 34-32.

When App State made history 19 years ago today in the Big House 😳 pic.twitter.com/Pww0M7vmj2
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 1, 2026

Although I'd say you could make a case that Stanford's win over USC later that year was even bigger, Appalachian State beating Michigan is an all-time "where were you at?" moment for college football fans.

With that in mind, I had to think about the greatest upsets in Notre Dame football history.

One in the positive and one in the negative.

Here we go...

Notre Dame's Greatest Upset Victory

1957 - Notre Dame 7, No. 2 Oklahoma 0

After losing to Navy and Michigan State by a combined score of 54-12 the previous two weeks, Notre Dame walked into mighty Oklahoma and stunned the world.

The Sooners were riding a 47 game winning streak and appeared to have no end in sight. Instead, the 19-point underdog Fighting Irish were led by two-way standout Bob Williams, who scored the only touchdown of the game late, and intercepted an Oklahoma pass to secure the win.

It was the high point of head coach Terry Brennan's time at Notre Dame, in a time when football was pushed to the wayside.

While Notre Dame has knocked off top teams before, to this day this win goes down in the history books as one of the most unlikely upsets in the history of the sport.

Notre Dame promptly returned to action a week later at home, where it lost to Iowa, 21-13.

Notre Dame's massive 1933 victory over Army, its upset of Dan Marino's No. 1 Pittsburgh team in 1982, and rout of Army (thanks to an aeriel attack) in 1913 all deserve mention, but truly none of them quite hold a candle to the win over Oklahoma in 1957.

Notre Dame's Greatest Upset Loss

2024 - Northern Illinois 16, No. 5 Notre Dame 14

There are plenty of candidates that featured heartbreaking Notre Dame losses to teams it should have beaten. I gave serious consideration to Stanford's win over Lou Holtz's Fighting Irish team in 1992, that perhaps kept it from winning a national championship.

However, how do you top 2024 against Northern Illinois? I mean, at least Stanford played in a power conference.

Notre Dame was fresh off its biggest win in years, as it opened the season with a primetime road victory against Texas A&M. Marcus Freeman appeared to have everything humming in Year Three, until it suddenly wasn't.

Northern Illinois controlled tempo, managed the clock, and was in control for virtually the entire afternoon. A late Riley Leonard interception spelled doom for Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish were stunned by the Huskies.

What made the upset even greater looking back is that Notre Dame would beat the likes of Louisville, USC, Indiana, Georgia, and Penn State en route to playing for the national championship, but still held that L from a Northern Illinois team that went just 8-5 overall, and 4-4 in the MAC.

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