The foundations of the business of college football

"Shake Down the Thunder: The Creation of Notre Dame Football" by Murray Sperber includes in its descriptions of how Notre Dame became a national football juggernaut and cultural touchstone details of a key game, in terms of both wins and the business of college football, in the 1924 season:

     With the 1920s' prosperity in Chicago, increasing numbers of Irish Catholics in that city reached the middle class and many had connections to Notre Dame, usually through N.D. alumni in their families. For this ethnic subgroup, Northwestern University, a Methodist institution, represented part of the hated Protestant establishment. Thus, in 1924, when Northwestern agreed to host the Fighting Irish, the ticket demand from N.D. fans in Chicago was unprecedented, far exceeding the previous match four years before. 
     The Big Ten school had originally scheduled the contest for its home grounds in Evanston but then, at Rockne's urging, it agreed to move the game to the expanded municipal stadium in Grant Park, soon to be called Soldier Field. The week before the game, the N.D. athletic department as well as the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Chicago sold out their huge allotment of tickets. Northwestern also moved all of its tickets--many to N.D. fans--and a crowd of at least forty-five thousand provided a payout of $27,000 to each of the schools.
     The spectators watched the Irish win a surprisingly tough match, 13-6, the Four Horsemen stymied much of the afternoon by Northwestern's line and the N.D. defense struggling to contain Northwestern's All-American, Ralph "Moon" Baker. Nevertheless, N.D. fans were happy with the victory; this first Notre Dame appearance in Soldier Field consolidated and increased the Catholic school's fan base in Chicago, preparing the way for the crowds of 120,000 only a few years later. 

Similarly, "Soldier Field: A stadium and Its City" notes that "Notre Dame struggled more than usual to overcome the Wildcats, as Northwestern's Ralph "Moon" Baker scored on two drop-kick plays. Northwestern lost, however, after Elmer Layden, one of Notre Dame's famed Four Horsemen (so dubbed a month before by Grantland Rice), made a fourth-quarter touchdown."