Marcus Freeman 'a huge proponent' of keeping USC rivalry intact

Marcus Freeman doesn’t want to see the Notre Dame–USC rivalry end. As of right now, the game between the two schools is not scheduled to be played after the 2025 season.

Rivalries are one of the fabrics of sports, especially in college football. Notre Dame-USC is just one of those rivalries and while realignment has hurt certain matchups, it seems like this one can still be salvaged.

Freeman harkened back to his high school days when it comes to the appreciation of rivalries. As of now, October 18th is the final Notre Dame-USC matchup in South Bend, Ind., is the last until the schedule is renewed.

“Man, I think back over my football career, even in high school, played for Huber Heights … and we played this team called the Centerville Elks, home of AJ Hawk and Kirk Herbstreit … and that was the greatest rivalry there was, like, that’s what we felt like, that was the game,” Freeman said on Always College Football. “And then as you go to Ohio State and play Michigan, like, huge rivalry, like, rivalries are such a great part of sports. 

“You think of the Yankees and the Red Sox and the Celtics and the (Lakers). Like, that’s what makes this thing special. You throw the records out of the window, right? You throw previous experiences out a window. It’s like this game means everything. And so I’m a huge proponent of rivalries.” 

Freeman advocated, once again, to keep the Notre Dame-USC rivalry in the fold beyond 2025. He is 2-1 against the Trojans in his head coaching career.

“I think the Notre Dame-USC rivalry is one of the greatest,” Freeman said. “I remember before I got here, memories of that game and the plays that would either lead to a championship or the playoffs or whatever the situation was, that stick out of my mind, and so I think they’re great, and I think we got to find ways to continuously save some of those special college football rivalries. 

“And I know there’s some people above me that will make some of those decisions on scheduling, but it would be a disservice to get away from some of those great rivalries, and I’m a huge proponent of Notre Dame and USC continuously playing each other for endless amounts of time. That’s a game that, as the head coach, you want to play and you want to be a part of, and hope we can get this rivalry renewed.”