The 1988 Notre Dame vs. Miami football game, colloquially known as "Catholics vs. Convicts", was played on October 15, 1988. The two teams were undefeated when they met at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won the closely contested game 31–30.

The name "Catholics vs. Convicts," a T-shirt slogan created prior to the matchup by two Notre Dame students and friends, Joe Frederick and Michael Caponigro, was noticed by the press and reported.

The two teams met on October 15, 1988, in South Bend, Indiana, with both teams being undefeated. Miami, the defending national champions, came in ranked No. 1 holding a 36-game regular season winning streak while the Irish were ranked No. 4. The game, which was preceded by a pregame fight between the two teams in the entrance tunnel, was named by USA Today as one of the greatest college football games of the period 1982–2002.

After a closely contested game, Miami scored a touchdown with 45 seconds left to pull within one point of the Fighting Irish, 31–30. Rather than kick the extra point and likely end the game in a tie, Miami head coach Jimmy Johnson decided to go for two, later reasoning that "We always play to win." However, Steve Walsh's pass was batted down by Pat Terrell, and Notre Dame won 31–30. Resulting in Miami's first regular season loss since Florida on September 7, 1985.

Notre Dame finished the season 12–0, beating No. 2 USC 27–10 on November 26 in the last game of the season and No. 3 West Virginia in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl 34–21 on January 2, 1989, to win the national title. Miami won the rest of its games and finished No. 2 behind Notre Dame in the polls.

Many Miami fans still question the accuracy of a Cleveland Gary fumble on the 1-yard line, which they believe was an incorrect call. With Miami trailing 31–24 and facing a critical fourth-and-7 from deep in Irish territory midway through the fourth quarter, Walsh connected with Miami running back Cleveland Gary streaking across the middle of the field inside the Irish 5-yard line for the first down. He caught the football, turned, was tackled and fumbled the football before he hit the ground. Notre Dame inside linebacker Michael Stonebreaker recovered the football. The referees ruled the play as a fumble, as Notre Dame took possession at the 2-yard line where the ball was recovered. After the game, Johnson was adamant that Gary was down before the ball came loose and Miami should have retained possession. Later, video replays showed that the on-field call was incorrect. There was later controversy on Miami's final touchdown. On a desperation pass into the corner of the endzone to Miami receiver Andre Brown, the ball was trapped and then dropped by Brown. Although ruled a touchdown on the field, replay shows that the ball hit the ground in front of the receiver and was dislodged from the Andre Brown's grasp even after trapping it. The two questionable calls tend to cause arguments among fans of both sides.

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