BEVERLY HILLS—On Wednesday, December 28 and Thursday, December 29, Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills hosted its 61st annual Beef Bowl for Penn State and USC.

According to “Road to the Rose Bowl: 50 Years of Lawry’s Beef Bowl” by Todd Erickson, Lawry’s has been serving prime rib dinners to college football players during the week leading up to the Rose Bowl since 1956. The tradition began with the Oregon State Beavers and the Iowa Hawkeyes, which started out as a meal being served on the actual field after practice for the Hawkeyes while the Beavers dined in the restaurant. Erickson notes that the 1964 Rose Bowl Game between Illinois and Washington, was the year that the title “Lawry’s Beef Bowl” was coined.

For the USC Trojans, this year was the 22nd time the team has participated in the annual Beef Bowl. The first year was in 1962, days before the 1963 game when USC beat Wisconsin 42-37.

This year’s wide receiver and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson made the ceremonial first cut for the Trojans on Thursday, while Derek Dowrey of the Nittany Lions was given the honor the day before.

According to ABC7 News, Penn State beat out USC in the unofficial eating contest by 34 pounds of beef consumed, with Penn State powering through 536 lbs and USC at 502 lbs.

The Rose Bowl game will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, January 2, for the 103rd year, per “Never on Sunday” Rose Bowl rules. The annual game draws upwards of 90,000 football  fans whose New Year is embedded in tradition.