The 1978 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic was the 42nd edition of the college football bowl game, played on Monday, January 2 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. The bowl game featured the independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish versus the Southwest Conference champion Texas Longhorns. A record crowd of 76,701 turned up to see the coronation of the Longhorns championship season, but fifth-ranked Notre Dame spoiled everything as they dominated the Longhorns 38–10.

Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell gained 116 yards on 29 carries, but was kept out of the end zone. Tied at three after the first quarter, the Irish scored three touchdowns in eight minutes and led 24–10 at halftime, then shut out the Longhorns in the second half. The loss by the Longhorns resulted in complete chaos in the final polls, with Notre Dame vaulting past Alabama to win the national championship.

Texas' loss opened the door to the national championship for several teams: second-ranked Oklahoma was soundly beaten 31–6 by #6 Arkansas in the Orange Bowl nightcap, and in between, fourth-ranked Michigan fell 27–20 to Washington in the Rose Bowl. That left third-ranked Alabama and fifth-ranked Notre Dame as the primary teams for the title. Alabama felt that with their convincing win, they would be champions due to the losses by Texas and Oklahoma, but the pollsters saw it differently. Notre Dame was voted number one in every poll. Perhaps the victory by fellow Southwest Conference member Arkansas in the Orange Bowl made the difference as it made Notre Dame's victory over Texas (who had beaten Arkansas 13–9 in October) even more impressive.

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