The story dates back to 1941 and the opening game of the UCLA football season. The 295-pound bell originally clanged from atop a Southern Pacific freight locomotive. It was given to UCLA in 1939 as a gift from the UCLA Alumni Association. For 2 seasons, cheerleaders rang the bell after each Bruin point. It was during this game in which UCLA played Washington that six USC SigEp's infiltrated the Bruin rooting section. After the game, they helped Bruin students load the bell onto a waiting truck bound for Westwood. But then, one of the SigEp's quietly removed the key to the truck; and when the Bruin students went to get a replacement, the six SigEp's drove off with the bell.

The bell remained hidden for more that a year, first in the basement of our old house on 28th Street, then in the Hollywood Hills, Santa Ana, and finally in a haystack. The controversy died down for a while, until a picture of the bell was printed in "The Wampus", a USC magazine. This re-ignited the rivahy, as students from UCLA painted Tommy Trojan and the USC students burned USC intials into lawns at UCLA. The conflict got so out of hand that Rufus B. von Kleinsmid, then USC president, threatened to cancel the USC - UCLA football game if the bell was not returned The SigEp's returned the bell and an agreement was signed that the bell would become a perpetual trophy and the winner of the annual USC - UCLA football game, perhaps America's greatest crosstown rivalry, is given year-long possession of the Victory Bell.