Capping off a days of reports that Notre Dame and Texas were working on a four game series, the University of Texas’ official athletics site TexasSports.com reported this afternoon that the two schools had worked out a final deal that will result in a pair of home-and-home series beginning in 2015 and 2019.

The Irish and the Longhorns have played ten times dating back to 1913 with Notre Dame claiming victory eight times.

“We have a wonderful relationship with Notre Dame, and (AD) Jack (Swarbrick) and I have become great friends,” said DeLoss Dodds, Texas men's athletics director. “I really admire and respect him and am excited we were able to pull this off.

“Texas and Notre Dame have met in a lot of great games over the years and I was lucky enough to be here for the series we had with them in 1995 and '96. Those games created a lot of interest and we've had a number of talks over the years to try to do it again.

“Football scheduling is always challenging so we're happy that we found a place on both teams' schedules to pull it off. When you match up two schools with so much pride, tradition and history, it's an event that everyone enjoys being a part of and we'll all really looking forward to.”

The series will kickoff with Texas traveling to South Bend on Sept. 5, 2015. Notre Dame is scheduled to make the return trip to Austin on Sept. 3, 2016, and then again for the first game of the second home-and-home on Aug. 31, 2019. The Longhorns return to South Bend on Sept. 12, 2020.

“We're thrilled to be able to renew the football relationship between Notre Dame and Texas,” said Jack Swarbrick, Notre Dame athletics director. “History already suggests that this has been an intersectional rivalry loaded with memorable moments, and I expect fans of both institutions will eagerly look forward to these matchups on the respective campuses.

“We've been looking at the prospect of putting together these matchups for some time, and we hope these games may lead to further conversations about the prospect of additional contests, potentially in other sports as well as football.”

Texas and Notre Dame have met on the gridiron ten times dating back to 1913 with the Irish winning eight of those contests, including two victories in the Cotton Bowl.

Notre Dame won the series' first two meetings in Austin in 1913 (30-7) and 1915 (36-7) before Texas registered a 7-6 victory in South Bend in 1934. The Irish claimed both ends of a home-and-home series in 1952 and 1954 before the historic Cotton Bowl contests.

The two traditional football powers last met in 1996 in Austin, completing a home-and-home series that started in South Bend in 1995.

The Irish have won the last four meetings.

“We are so excited we were able to schedule a four-game series with Notre Dame,” Texas Coach Mack Brown said. “I love college football history and nobody has more historical programs than Texas and Notre Dame. The renewal of this rivalry should be a lot of fun to be a part of and something that college football fans across the country can really enjoy.”

“Starting a series with the Texas Longhorns is great not just for Notre Dame, but college football, and we couldn't be happier about it,” said Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly. “When I look at the job Coach Brown has done at Texas in reviving a once proud tradition, I see many parallels to what our staff plans to do at Notre Dame.

“The addition of Texas to our future schedules is just another example of the type of high-profile programs we plan on playing as an independent. We look forward to embracing our unique status within college football and continuing to schedule games against similar programs down the road.”