The 1923 edition of the Nebraska Cornhuskers appeared to be ready for a fall at the hands of mighty Notre Dame. The "Fighting Huskers" had been the only team to defeat coach Knute Rockne's Notre Dame boys the year before but this year's Husker team didn't seem likely to repeat the upset.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers put their hopes in the hands of a heavy defensive squad led by tackle Ed Weir. Although rather light compared to his fellow linemates, Weir possessed a fiery spirit then enabled him to sprint across the field to the ball carrier with wild abandon. Coach Fred Dawson's Husker team was able to show some respectable efforts early in the 1923 season. They were able to shutout both Oklahoma and Kansas and held Missouri to just one score. Unfortunately the Husker offense didn't take advantage of the defensive efforts. A single 24-0 win over Oklahoma was the only victory they could notch in the first four games. The Kansas and Missouri games resulted in ties. In the season opener against a Red Grange led Illinois team, the Nebraska defense was worn down, allowing Grange to score two touchdowns in the final ten minutes and gave up a 24-17 loss. As they prepared to host Notre Dame, the Huskers held an unimpressive 1-1-2 record.

On the other sideline, things were much different. Notre Dame had regained the national prestige they had created for themselves. "Rockne's Ramblers" had dismissed Kalamazoo, Lombard, Army, Princeton, Georgia Tech and Purdue with a powerful offense and stingy defense. No team was able to score more than one touchdown on the South Bend squad.

Principal in the Notre Dame success were the legend-in-the-making Four Horsemen. That legend had been created on October 19th, 1924 when sportswriter Grantland Rice described the efforts of Don Miller, Elmer Layden, Jim Crowley and Harry Stuhldreher against Army in the pages of the New York Herald Tribune with the words; "Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only the aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army football team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds yesterday afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down on the bewildering panorama spread on the green plain below."

The Nebraska boys had no doubt read the press clippings. Head coach Fred Dawson, a premier orator, used those clippings to motivate his men before the contest. He challenged his men not to accept their foes as anything other than men.

Thirty-thousand fans filled the stands of the brand new Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Nebraska. The Huskers had dedicated their new home on October 20, 1923. With only two games in the books at Memorial Stadium their was still an air of enthusiasm for the facilities, if not the team.

Early in the game it became clear that Notre Dame would be in for a struggle. Nebraska outweighed the Irish by a full 12 pounds per men and Nebraska was using that weight to their advantage. Notre Dame tried to employ end runs and sweeps to gain ground, only to find the Nebraska line pushing into their backfield and stopping the Irish at each turn. The first quarter turned out to be a punting duel between Notre Dame's Layden and Nebraska's Verne Lewellen, with Lewellen getting the best of things thanks to a stiff wind in his favor. Nebraska had one scoring threat in the opening period when they drove down to the Irish 25-yard line. They couldn't push any further and a place kick attempt went wide, keeping the game scoreless.

Things opened up for both teams in the second period. Coach Rockne turned to quarterback Stuhldreher in hopes that an aerial attack might have some success. The plan worked only to move the ball quicker for the Irish, but it failed to provide the knockout punch to the end zone. Nebraska was able to break the scoreless dual early in the second. The Cornhuskers drove down to the shadow of the goal line when fullback Rufus Dewitz tossed a forward pass 15-yards to fullback Dave Noble, who hauled it in at the five-yard line. Noble carried would-be tacklers with him as he grinded into the end zone for the touchdown.

Noble struck again in the fourth period for a key Nebraska score. Early in the final period, Noble broke free through the tackles and sprinted 24 yards to put Nebraska up 14-0, stunning the partisan crowd and the Notre Dame faithful. Rockne's patience had worn thin quickly. He began pulling his usual starting players and inserting substitutes throughout the lineup. The only Irish player who consistently delivered the goods was Stuhldreher. The 5-7, 148 pounder was able to find success with many of his pass attempts and defensively he intercepted three of Nebraska's six pass attempts. Despite the gains, Notre Dame was still unable to make the big plays when they needed them.

Things almost got worse for Rockne's team. Husker sophomore Choppy Rhodes picked up a Crowley fumble and rumbled 73 yards. Clem Crowe finally stopped Rhodes at the 4 yard line causing another fumble, this time into the end zone where Notre Dame recovered and prevented any further Husker score.

In the final quarter, Notre Dame turned to pass after pass to final mount a scoring drive. Backup Max Houser completed a 4-yard toss to Willy Maher for the Irish's only score on the afternoon. The rally was far to late. AS the game wound down, the Husker faithful were sent into a frenzy over the 14-7 upset their Cornhuskers boys had pulled off.

A few weeks after the game, coach Rockne and coach Dawson met up again, this time at a dinner in Chicago. It was their that Rockne let slip his feeling for the reason behind the Husker win. During the dinner conversation Rockne pointed a finger at Dawson and stated sharply "Dawson, it was clipping that won that game for you!". With panicked eyes staring at the two awaiting what might transpire next Rockne continued. "No excuses! Fred Dawson, it was just plain clipping....newspaper clipping!" Then with a sly smile Rockne admitted "My kids had suitcases full of them telling them how great they were!"

The Notre Dame confidence returned quickly after the defeat. The Irish managed to claim three more victims that year without allowing more than a touchdown to any of them. Nebraska, meanwhile, won just one of their final three matches and finished the season with a 4-2-2 record. The wins Nebraska did manage were enough to give the Huskers their third straight Missouri Valley Conference title.