Hilton Head's Steve Fuller, Beaufort's Mark Clifford recall playing for Clemson against Notre Dame

When sixth-ranked Notre Dame (4-0) visits 12th-ranked Clemson on Saturday night in Death Valley, it will be one of the biggest college football games in recent memory for the state of South Carolina.

ESPN's GameDay program will broadcast from the Upstate campus all day before the game kicks off just after 8 p.m. on ABC's national broadcast.

But two Beaufort County high school football coaches were on Clemson's roster when the Tigers and Irish tangled in the late 1970s.

Hilton Head Island offensive coordinator was the starting quarterback for the 1977 team that lost 21-17 on Nov. 12, 1977. Beaufort High head coach Mark Clifford was on the roster for the 1977 game but didn't play. He was, however, a starter for the Clemson team that knocked off Notre Dame, 16-10, on Nov. 17, 1979, the last time the two teams met.

Fuller and Clifford both recall the 1977 season as a turning point for the Clemson program. After a rough 1976, a new staff, led by head coach Charley Pell and a young assistant named Danny Ford, took over the program.

"We were pretty bad for my first two years, 1975 and 1976, Fuller said. "We had a bunch of young guys playing. We had a bunch of good players, but they just weren't experienced enough to finish out games. ... We went down and beat Georgia at Georgia. They were a ranked team. And then we got a pretty good run going.

Fuller said despite the team's success, the Tigers weren't circling the Irish on their calendars.

"They were ranked, we were ranked," he said. "It got to be a bigger game as it got closer. We didn't know anything about Notre Dame. We knew the reputation, we knew the history. But we didn't know anything about the kids or the team.

"It was certainly an important game for us, but I don't think it had near the build-up that this game does."

Clemson held its own and led 17-7 as the third quarter wound down. As the Tigers were driving toward a score, they fumbled deep in Notre Dame territory, one of five Clemson turnovers on the day.

"If we had gotten that thing to 24-7, it would have been pretty much done," Fuller said. "We fumbled, and to their credit, they were very, very good. But if we hadn't kept putting the football on the ground, I won't say it was one we gave to them, but we certainly gave them the opportunity."

Joe Montana, one of 36 future NFL players in the game, drove Notre Dame to two fourth-quarter touchdowns and the Irish escaped. The game turned out to be bigger after the fact because of how the two team's seasons panned out.

The Irish would go on to win the national championship, while the Tigers would go on to play in the Gator Bowl, their first postseason appearance in 18 years.

Fuller didn't think the game was the biggest of his career -- the 1978 win over Maryland to win the ACC and the win over Woody Hayes and Ohio State in the 1978 Gator Bowl were bigger, in his mind -- but it's the one he'd like to have back.

"It was a game we completely controlled and, in my opinion, there was never any question we should have won the game and we just didn't," he said. "And I think all of the guys think of that game like that, it's one we should have won. I don't think it would have changed the way people think about Clemson, but I think it would have been one of those defining games if we'd have gone ahead and finished that thing out."

Because of the lessons he learned, Clifford said it's impossible for him not to compare the turnaround of the Tigers in 1977 to Beaufort's turnaround after his staff took over.

"We were 3-30 here when I first got this job," Clifford said. "When that staff came in, Coach Ford and Coach Pell and all of them, we were 2-9 and then 1-9-1 and then we got that new staff and it was the toughest spring practice I've ever seen in my life. And that's kind of what I re-enacted when I came here in '04.

Clifford struggled through some "tough times" on and off the field and didn't play until his senior season of 1979, making the win in South Bend even more special.

"I got some trust from Coach Ford," Clifford said. "I learned a lesson there when I got a coach that trusted me and had faith in me. I got that one opportunity that one year and then Chris Dolce became my roommate and he'd had two successful years, and that combination of those two guys, those two human beings led me to be successful.

"Having that one opportunity, I use it here. I use it with kids who are fighting through adversity. I tell them just keep fighting and wait for your opportunity. That became my opportunity."

Clifford has taken some ribbing this week from fellow teammates and the media about his block on the go-ahead touchdown that could have been called a clip.

He still jokes about looking around for a flag before signaling touchdown along with the official.

"It could have changed history, Clifford joked. "(In the film room) Coach Ford took that off the projector and said, 'what were you thinking, boy?' "

The 1979 team got the win over the Irish but is lost in Tigers history because of the accomplishments of the 1978 and 1981 teams.

"I was talking to (quarterback) Billy Lott last night," Clifford said Tuesday, "and we had a good football team. We lost three games by less than one touchdown. I'm not saying we were as good as 78. Or as good as 81. But we were a good football team."

Fuller is linked to these Tigers because of star quarterback DeShaun Watson, who wears Fuller's long-retired No. 4. He gave his blessing for Watson to wear the number, and the sophomore also wears a patch honoring the All-American.

"He's very poised. That's the thing I like most about him," Fuller said of Watson. "He never seems to get rattled, regardless of what's going on. That's a trait you have or don't have. It's not something you can teach. He's very mature for his age. The big stage is not going to scare him at all. I think he can handle it."

Fuller said he planned to be at the game Saturday.

Clifford, however, said he wouldn't make it, but he'd be watching and remembering that Saturday in 1979.

"That was probably the favorite day of my life," Clifford said. "It was just a great experience."

1979 game

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Hilton Head's Steve Fuller, Beaufort's Mark Clifford recall playing for Clemson against Notre Dame."