After the Yale-Princeton game, a writer for the "New York Tribune" stated that Dashiell and McClung were "excellent" at their jobs and "that their rulings were just and impartial was admitted everywhere". In the following year, McClung refereed a single game, again between Yale and Princeton. He was a top candidate for umpiring a contest between Wisconsin and Carlisle in what would be one of the first games played at night, but did not receive the position. McClung refereed two games in 1897 alongside Dashiell. The first game they served was Harvard and Yale's rivalry, The Game. The contest, which ended in a 0-0 tie, was the first time the rivalry was played since a bloody 1894 game led it to be cancelled. Following that work, they officiated a close game between Cornell and Penn. McClung gained some fame among the football community following the 1897 year, so he was selected to referee in three games the following year. He was chosen before the season to again serve in the Harvard-Yale game, and was likely going to be a referee for the Yale-Princeton contest; before the game, however, McClung was replaced by Edgar Wrightington. The other two games refereed that year were for Penn, their contests with Harvard and Cornell. McClung's 1899 season was very similar to his previous year. He was selected before the season to referee the Harvard-Yale game, and officiated a game between Pennsylvania and Harvard. By 1900, McClung and Dashiell's fame had risen considerably. Two western teams, California and Stanford, asked them to officiate their rivalry game. The "San Francisco Call", while covering the rivalry, referred to the two as "the two most expert [officials] in America". McClung ended up only refereeing one game that year, his usual role in the Harvard-Yale game. He was sought after for another game for Yale, but had to turn down the offer. He officiated two games in 1901. The first was his usual job at the Yale-Harvard game, which ended up being a very cleanly played contest. The second was another game for Harvard, against Penn. McClung's routine was broken in 1902, when he officiated four games. After beginning the year with a normal game between Columbia and Princeton, McClung refereed a game between Columbia and Penn where, for the first time, Dashiell was not umpiring for him.