updated 2:14 a.m. ET Aug. 5, 2007

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - More than 61,000 Notre Dame alumni requested tickets for the Oct. 20 football game against USC, making it the second-most demanded ticket in school history.

The 61,685 tickets sought for the game is second only to the 66,670 alumni requests received for last year’s Penn State game, the school said.

Notre Dame Stadium holds 80,232 people. The school distributes about 32,000 tickets a game to alumni, undergraduate parents and benefactors, 16,000 to season ticket holders and 11,000 to students, with the remainder going to university use, faculty and staff and opponents.

The Sept. 22 game against Michigan State is the seventh-most demanded ticket with 55,149 requests and the Boston College game on Oct. 13 is eighth at 54,922.

Tickets are distributed by lottery when the requests become greater than the amount available. Notre Dame expects to mail refunds next week worth more than $8.6 million to unsuccessful lottery participants.

That’s the second most ever. Last year, the school sent refunds of $11.7 million.

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