Notre Dame Stadium, October 24, 2009. Photograph: Marta Garcia

On the morning of October 24, a chartered commuter train festooned inside and out with maroon and gold balloons, ribbons, and beads departed Chicago’s Millennium Station. On board were 250 Boston College football fans from around the country, on the last leg of a pilgrimage to Notre Dame Stadium. There they would join more than 5,000 other Boston College students, alumni, and fans for what promises to be the Eagles’ final visit to South Bend, Indiana, at least for the foreseeable future.

A recent commitment by Notre Dame to play three of its games each season against teams from the Big East conference has limited the number of open spots on the Irish’s schedule, so as it stands, next season’s tilt in Chestnut Hill, the 20th game between the two schools, will be the last. This prospect clearly motivated many on the train, among them longtime Eagles fans Jay Taranto, Jr., and his brother Brian, who brought their father, Angelo, ’59, from North Chelmsford, Massachusetts. “It’s something we’ve been talking about for 15 years,” Jay said. “If we didn’t go this year, we’d never go.”

Compared to Boston College’s blood feud with Holy Cross—the Jesuit adversaries faced one another 82 times between 1896 and 1986 (with Boston College leading 48–31–3)—the Notre Dame rivalry has a brief history. It began 35 years ago when William Flynn ’39 and Ed “Moose” Krause, pals and athletic directors at Boston College and Notre Dame, respectively, conceived of a game between the only two Catholic colleges still playing competitive big-time football. On September 15, 1975, the teams met in front of more than 60,000 fans at Schaefer Stadium, then home of the New England Patriots. The Irish prevailed 17–3. Eight years later, the teams faced off again, by serendipity, in the 1983 Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Doug Flutie, in his only game against the Irish, shone, throwing for 287 yards and three touchdowns, but the Eagles ultimately lost 19–18. Another one-shot game on November 7, 1987, in South Bend ended in a 32–25 Irish victory.

If there’s bad blood beating in the heart of every rivalry, then the Boston College–Notre Dame rivalry pulsed to life on November 7, 1992. Christina Sliwa ’93, MBA’00, remembers that day. “I was there for the Rudy game,” she said, as the train rumbled through northern Indiana. “That was not a good day.” It was the first of 13 consecutive annual contests, and it was an unequivocal beatdown by the eighth-ranked Irish, including a faked Notre Dame punt that embarrassed the Eagles, who lost 54–7. At halftime, as the Boston College faithful glumly pondered their squad’s fate, filmmakers’ cameras were trained on them, recording what would become the final crowd scenes for the 1993 movie Rudy—the story of beloved Notre Dame walk-on Daniel Ruettiger.

A year after that drubbing, on November 20, 1993, the 17th-ranked Eagles returned to South Bend for a game known to Boston College fans by two words: The Kick. The Irish were the number one team in the nation following a win over top-ranked Florida State, and they had their eyes on the national championship; a victory over the Eagles and whatever bowl opponent arose would give coach Lou Holtz his second title. As Florida State coach Bobby Bowden later recalled, “We had played Notre Dame the week before, and it was a 1 versus 2 and we were 1 and they were 2. They beat us, and then they had Boston College the next week and that was an automatic win.”

The Eagles (in light jerseys) first played in Notre Dame Stadium on November 7, 1987. Photograph: University of Notre Dame Archives

Boston College had a respectable program, with a few bowl wins under its belt, and even a Heisman Trophy winner; Notre Dame represented the gold standard of college football: 11 national championships, 22 unbeaten seasons, seven Heisman Trophy winners, 30 unanimous All-America selections. But as they say, the games are played for a reason. Boston College’s quarterback Glenn Foley was stellar, throwing for 315 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Eagles to a fourth quarter lead of 38–17. Notre Dame roared back, though, managing to pull ahead, 39–38, with just a shade over a minute left. Starting on their own 25, the Eagles drove to the Irish 24-yard line. The game came down to the left foot of walk-on kicker David Gordon, whose missed 40-yarder earlier that season cost Boston College a win over Northwestern. Gordon’s kick was good, giving the Eagles a 41–39 lead as the final seconds ticked off. Florida State ended up national champions.

That 1993 game turned out to be a tipping point. In eight of their next 13 meetings, Boston College beat Notre Dame (with four of the victories coming in South Bend), including six in a row leading up to last fall’s matchup.

The Boston College team that took the field on October 24, 2009, had already exceeded preseason predictions. After an offseason in which the Eagles lost their head coach as well as their best player, linebacker Mark Herzlich ’12, who was diagnosed with bone cancer, the team was playing well, posting a 5–2 record behind 25-year-old freshman quarterback Dave Shinskie. The Irish were 4–2.

It was an exciting, if sloppily played, game. After four lead changes, Boston College found itself down 20–16 with the ball on the Notre Dame 30-yard line and two-and-a-half minutes left. The Boston College faithful were on their feet, cheering for another comeback, but it was not to be. The Irish held on for the win.

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and the Eagles of Boston College will play again in Chestnut Hill next fall, and afterward, the teams will go their separate ways. Should the Eagles defeat their rival, the overall series between Boston College and Notre Dame will stay knotted, for who knows how long, at an even 10–10.

Read more by Tim Czerwienski