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Charlie Weis became head football coach for the Irish beginning with the 2005 season. In his inaugural season he led Notre Dame to a record of 9 wins and 3 losses and a postseason appearance in the Fiesta Bowl, losing to Ohio State University, 34-20. Weis' impact was immediately apparent when, in the first half of the first game against Pittsburgh, Notre Dame had more offensive yards than in any of five entire games of the previous season. Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn would go on to break numerous team passing records that season and put himself in the national spotlight. Wide receiver Jeff Samardzija also put himself on the national scene by catching a touchdown pass in the Irish's first eight games, a team record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass. Samardzija eventually became a finalist for the Fred Biletnikoff Award given to the nation's top wide receiver.

The season also included one of the classic games in team history as well as the sport's history when USC came to South Bend for an October 15, 2005 game. The Trojans had won the last three meetings between the teams by 31 points each and had won 27 games in a row overall. However, this game became a classic when Brady Quinn took his team down the field to score a touchdown with just over two minutes to play to put Notre Dame ahead 31-28. The Irish defense pushed the Trojans into a 4th down and nine situation, but USC quarterback Matt Leinart hit receiver Dwayne Jarrett for 67 yards to put the ball inside the Notre Dame 10 yard line. Then, on a second down and goal play, Leinart was flushed from the pocket and forced to scramble towards the end zone. He was hit at the one yard line and fumbled the ball out of bounds. However, the clock operator ran the clock down to 0:00, and delirious Irish fans thought they had finally defeated USC, flushing a large portion of the student section onto the field. However, officials regained order and placed the ball inside the one yard line and put seven seconds on the clock. On third down, USC elected to try for the touchdown rather than spike the ball and go for a field goal on fourth down. Although Leinart's quarterback sneak was initially turned away by the Notre Dame defense, he spun to his left, and, aided by a controversial shove (see Bush Push) from his teammate, 2005 Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, surged into the end zone to win the game for USC by a 34-31 margin. Pundits called it one of the greatest games ever, and Bush himself, who had won a national championship game in his career, called it "the biggest win of my career".

• Charlie Weis - Head Coach
• Michael Haywood - Offensive Coordinator & Running Back Coach
• Rob Ianello - Recruiting Coordinator & Receiver Coach
• John Latina - Assistant Head Coach (Offense) & Offensive Line Coach
• Bill Lewis - Assistant Head Coach (Defense) & Defensive Back Coach
• Rick Minter - Defensive Coordinator & Linebacker Coach
• Jappy Oliver - Defensive Line Coach
• Bernie Parmalee - Tight End & Special Teams Coach
• Brian Polian - Assistant Defensive Backs & Special Teams Coach
• Peter Vaas - Quarterback Coach
• Shane Waldron - Offensive Graduate Assistant
• Jeff Burrow - Defensive Graduate Assistant