Road Trip Ranking: 1- Notre Dame
The Obvious: In the third road game of the season and the eighth game overall, the Trojans travel back to the Midwest for the nation’s most treasured intersectional rivalry – Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana on Oct 21.
The Not So Obvious: This is the mother of all road games – The Notre Dame Weekender. Most Trojans stay in Chicago and try to arrive on Thursday in time for Friday’s noontime pep rally at the Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. Yes, Dr. Bartner, the Trojans Marching Band, The Song Girls, and massive turnout of Trojans fans will all be there. Literally upwards of 10,000 Trojans make the trip, and you can see many of them either at the rally or walking the famous Miracle Mile in downtown Chicago. The restaurants – sports hangouts like Harry Carey’s or Ditka’s – are great. Some Trojans fans prefer to stay just a night in Chicago and spend Friday and Saturday night in South Bend or in the general vicinity. The Notre Dame Friday night pep rally in anticipation of the hated Trojans is a gas. FYI, the drive from Chicago to South Bend is about an hour and a half, and it’s really a relaxing ride once you leave the outskirts of the Windy City. BTW, Chicago is on Central Time, which means it’s an hour behind South Bend time.
Comment: Simply put, this is the best of the best of roads trips. It’s everything you could want, including staying in Chicago, which is a great city for fun. If you can get a ticket to the game, you have to go!
The Not So Obvious: Keep in mind that if the Trojans win and win and are ranked near or at the top, away game tickets will be scarce as will hotels and plane flights. You can take that to the bank. Don’t be caught looking from the outside in.