From TributeToTroy

The year 1939 witnessed Howard Jones’ Thundering Herd capture its fourth national championship. The head man remarked at the team banquet that this team--his next to last at Troy--was his finest (at least in terms of depth) in his 16 years at USC.

As tanks rolled in Europe, Jones’ team rolled to an 8-0-2 record, shutting out six teams and allowing just 7 points to three others. Only 33 points were scored upon Troy that year--a mark no Trojan defense has topped since.

The season had its share of huge games. There was a 19-7 win over No. 11 Oregon State in Portland and a 20-12 win over No. 7 Notre Dame at South Bend (USC wouldn’t win again at Notre Dame Stadium until 1967). The regular season finale was an epic 0-0 tie with No. 9 UCLA in front of 103,303, the second-largest crowd in Coliseum history. The capper was a 14-0 win over No. 2 Tennessee in the 1940 Rose Bowl against a Volunteer team that hadn’t been scored upon in 16 games and hadn't lost in 24 games.

Lineman Harry Smith was a unanimous All-American, while quarterback Grenny Lansdell--who led the team with 742 rushing yards and 54 points--was also named to some teams.

At season’s end, the Trojans were given the Knute Rockne Trophy, awarded each year to the No. 1 team in the country by Professor Frank G. Dickinson, a respected analyst who declared, “The Trojans were the best team in the best section...and the nation’s other top teams did not play as strong a schedule as USC.”