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For The Journal Clemson head coach, Dabo Swinney, loves the long standing competition between Clemson and South Carolina as he got his first win against the Gamecocks last year, during his interim head coaching position. He hopes for win number two in 2009.

CLEMSON — For Tiger and Gamecock fans alike, a filling Thanksgiving holiday doesn’t keep them on the couch napping for the next few days.

But for these diehard fans, Thanksgiving is just the beginning of a fantastic holiday weekend, and the couch is the perfect seat for one of the biggest football rivalries in the Southeast.

That’s because Clemson and the University of South Carolina have a famously unsettled past, dating back to the late 1800s.

The tradition of Big Thursday marks one of the greatest outlines of the rivalry, according to Clemson’s historian, Jerry Reel.

The first game against the two teams took place in 1896. The match-up was a bit uneven, as USC had an established football program for numerous years.

The game was played in Columbia, based around the arrival of the state fair, on a Thursday night.

“There was no stadium at Clemson, but more so, there wasn’t any lodging to accommodate visitors,” Reel said. “When people came down to Columbia, staying in tents on the fair grounds solved that problem.”

So while USC got the first win under its belt, things changed in 1897 when Clemson got the victory in Columbia.

In fact, Clemson got very used to playing on the road and winning, as they would only play a maximum of two football games on the Tiger campus per year.

In 1902, during the long awaited game against USC, Clemson was feeling good about its football program as it went undefeated in 1900 and were the SEC champions.

“The Tigers had not lost against the Gamecocks since their first meeting in 1896,” Reel added. “So, once again, the Clemson community and university headed down to Columbia. As an all-male military school, not many were going to miss this game.”

In 1902, that high quickly dissipated into a low for Clemson, as USC upset the Tigers.

In return, the USC fans and players would quickly upset the Clemson community, as they carried a banner that had a rooster perched on top of a tiger’s head.

“The implications were enough to infuriate Clemson fans,” Reel said. “And during a parade in Columbia, they brought back the banner after fans from Clemson told them not to or, ‘they’d be sorry.’

It’s a good thing that fans don’t get as upset as they used to, as that banner almost caused bloodshed in the streets of Columbia.

“One account states that Clemson cadets headed into town with their rifles while USC students leaped behind a wall that separated the campus from the city,” he said. “A USC voice called out, ‘McKissic, do you have your revolver?’ After he answered yes, he was told to make every shot count.”

At that time, a coach from USC jumped out and calmed the crowds long enough for police to arrive.

And while the rivalry continued to brew over the years, Clemson officials and residents continued to push for an equal switch between football venues for the big game.

With little movement on the issue as legislatures in Columbia wouldn’t budge on the issue, the game was always played in the state’s capital.

That is until the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

With more funds coming into both universities for expansions on their stadiums, as the promise of drawing big crowds justified the funding, Clemson made some headway.

“In 1959, the last Big Thursday game was played in Columbia, as officials decided that a Thursday game really disrupted the academic calendar and Clemson could now accommodate the crowds,” Reel said. “We are now in the 50th anniversary year of this tradition coming to an end.”

And the big game, now always played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, was set in stone after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

“There was a game set for the week before Thanksgiving in 1963, but because of his death, the game was postponed and moved to the following week,” Reel said. So, while USC is always out for a win when it comes to playing the Tigers, they’ve only taken the victory twice in the last decade. If Clemson wins this year, it will be their third win in a row.

jsibley@dailyjm.com | 864-882-2375