College Football Rewind: 5 most important games from 2005 season

2. (1) USC 34, (9) Notre Dame 31

In the game that famously became known as the ‘Bush Push’, USC survived the upset bid from Notre Dame in dramatic fashion.

This game was truly back-and-forth and every possession counted. Reggie Bush would rush for over 200 yards and Matt Leinart would throw for over 300 yards, despite two interceptions. It appeared that Notre Dame had pulled the upset on multiple occasions.

Staring at a fourth down late in the game and trailing 31-28, Leinart found Dwayne Jarrett on a big pass to get the Trojans deep into Notre Dame territory. After Leinart made a run for the endzone around the corner, he was tackled and the clock ran out despite it appearing that the ball came free out of bounds, which should have stopped the clock.

After putting time on the clock, USC was ready for one final play. Leinart tried a sneak and was initially stopped short, but Bush came from behind and pushed him into the endzone, securing a huge victory for the Trojans and keeping their winning streak and perfect season in tact.