25 best college football bowl games in history

11. Notre Dame vs. Houston, 1979 Cotton Bowl

It’s impossible to pin down the most iconic performance of Joe Montana’s storied football career, but the Chicken Soup Game certainly ranks somewhere near the top of the lengthy list.

Montana led the Fighting Irish to the national title the season before after taking over for injured starter Forsystek in the third game of the year. Notre Dame’s dreams of a repeat were crushed with an 0-2 start in 1978, although it recovered enough to make the Cotton Bowl with eight wins in nine games to close out the season.

Houston head coach Bill Yeoman put together another terrific offense in 1978, helping the Cougars to a 9-2 regular season record and second appearance in the Cotton Bowl in a span of three years. The Cougars ranked eighth in the nation in scoring offense, as running backs Randy Love and Emmett King each racked up over 1,000 yards.

Dallas suffered a terrible ice storm the day before the game, and Montana caught the flu. With Houston up 20-12 at halftime, Montana did not emerge from the locker room, allowing the Cougars to build a 34-12 lead by the fourth quarter.

Montana returned to the game with 7:37 remaining, and the Fighting Irish scored 16 quick points with a blocked punt return and touchdown pass. Notre Dame got the ball back, and a long drive ended with Montana hitting Kris Haines on an eight-yard score as time expired to win the game 35-34.

The Notre Dame medical staff reportedly helped Montana get well enough to play by feeding him some chicken soup. Montana would move on to the NFL after the game and go on to win four Super Bowls while engineering a number of comebacks.