Behind star halfback George Gipp and quarterback Joe Brandy, Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne's squad was considered one of the strongest groups in the country. The Catholics had dismissed Kalamazoo and Western Michigan in the first two games by a combined 81-0 score. Nevertheless, Rockne knew that Nebraska would hold a special challenge to his team. Nebraska had defeated Washburn and the Colorado Aggies by somewhat less impressive scores, but the Cornhuskers still possessed a heavy line and skilled, if not experienced, backfield players.

Nebraska quarterback Richard Newman did what he could in his young career to help the team. He played hard and often through injuries to get the job done. Nebraska, however, put their hopes on the shoulders of end Clarence Swanson. The captain from Wakefield received All-American attention from his left wing spot and was the team's top receiver.

Both teams were fired up for the game. The streets of Lincoln were filled with revelers the night before the game, cheering on the home team and welcoming the visitors from South Bend. In a short talk before the crowd Rockne showed an air of confidence by telling them "We have a student body back home tonight cheering us just as you are cheering Nebraska tonight and that spirit will carry us to victory tomorrow."

George Gipp echoed his coaches bravado in a telegraph to a friend back home that declared "Nebraska will be tough, but brains will win."

Nebraska coach George Schulte knew he needed everything he had to face the challenge of Notre Dame. He rested most of his starters the week before to prepare them for the game with the Irish. The strategy almost backfired as the Cornhuskers barely defeated the Colorado Aggies 7-0.

Ten thousand homecoming fans turned up at Nebraska field for the matchup. The game itself started out to be a slow, defensive standoff as the teams traded punts for much of the early going. Notre Dame was able to put together a threat thanks to a 35 yard Gipp run that set Notre Dame up at the Nebraska ten yard line. More line runs moved the Hoosiers down to the Husker 2 where the drive finally stalled. Following common practice in those days, the Huskers immediately went into punt formation to kick the ball out of trouble. They ended up in more trouble as Notre Dame guard Buck Shaw broke through and blocked the punt out of the end zone for a safety.

Poor punting helped set up Nebraska's first score of the game as well. With the ball near mid-field, Gipp booted a punt that sailed straight up in the air. After having little success running the ball, Nebraska turned to a long pass from Newman to Swanson to move quickly down to the Notre Dame three yard line. Three plays later fullback Ernest Hubka plowed in for the touchdown. The kick gave the Huskers a 7-2 first quarter lead and a good feeling about their chances of defeating their rivals.

Early in the second period Notre Dame thought they got the break they needed. Gipp broke loose on a fake play and out-galloped the Huskers 55 yards for an apparent touchdown. A penalty, however, nullified the play. Two other Irish drives fizzled bringing a sigh of relief to the home crowd.

The circumstances of the game only served to fire up the ever-dangerous Gipp. Realizing he couldn't go through or around the Nebraska defensive line, he decided to go over them. A pair of late second quarter passes from Gipp to Eddie Anderson for 60 yards drove the Irish all the way down to the Nebraska one yard line. Not willing to see a another drive die this close to the end zone, Brandy plunged into the line for the final yard and Notre Dame's first touchdown. At halftime the Irish sported a slim 9-7 lead over the Huskers.

At halftime Rockne figured his team may have scored enough to claim a victory. He concocted a plan to keep the ball out of the Cornhuskers hands and stall their way to victory. As the third quarter progressed his plan started showing it's desired results. The Irish kept things simple and direct, not allowing Nebraska any chances to score, but not presenting any great opportunities for themselves.

Rockne quickly found that he could slow down the game, but not George Gipp. In the fourth quarter Rockne sent backup quarterback Chet Grant into the game with specific instructions to sit on the ball and the lead. But when Grant made it to the huddle he was confronted by a fired-up Gipp who demanded the ball be given to him. Since Gipp outweighed Grant by 42 pounds and towered a good five inches over him, the signal caller had no interest in fighting with Gipp. On the next snap he gave the ball to Gipp who tried a deep pass. The throw failed, but it was clear that Gipp wanted to keep things going no matter what Rockne said.

Nebraska had their chances in the fourth quarter, but the Irish defense rallied behind Gipp to crush the Husker hopes. Maurice Smith, Gipp and Harry Mehre all intercepted Nebraska passes in the final period.

Later in the fourth Gipp completed a 28-yard pass to Anderson to set up his own 7-yard touchdown run and give the Irish a 16-7 lead. Gipp tried to score again in the fourth by guiding another Irish drive down to the Nebraska three yard line. This time they lacked the punch to get across for the score and had to settle for the nine point victory.

Nebraska extracted some measure of respect by dominating the game in the statistics. The Huskers amassed 13 first downs to the Irish's 6. Nebraska had 550 total yards with 425 of them coming on the ground. Notre Dame garnered just 174 yards of offense. The importance of George Gipp to the Notre Dame plans becomes apparent with the fact that Gipp accounted for 218 yards of total offense for Notre Dame while the team ended the game with 174 yards, a full 44 yards fewer than Gipp had by himself.

The loss proved disappointing the Huskers. It was hoped that a win over Notre Dame would give the team the momentum they needed to work their way through a tough schedule. A road victory over Rutgers was followed by a shutout loss at Penn State. The Huskers were able to secure an impressive 35-7 victory over Michigan was offset by a one-point loss to Washington State. The Huskers ended the year with a 5-3-1 record.

Notre Dame was able to complete an undefeated season in 1920 but the team was unable to celebrate their accomplishment for long. In their second to last game of the year against Northwestern Gipp contracted strep throat. The ailment was a serious one in those days and on December 14th, the young star died at the age of 25. Gipp's deathbed declarations to coach Rockne to tell the boys to get out there and "win one for the Gipper." became part of college football folklore when the scene was recreated in the 1940 Ronald Reagan film Knute Rockne - All American