Lincoln Riley calls out Notre Dame for pausing rivalry with USC

The USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish are two of the iconic brands in college football and have one of the game’s premier rivalries. However, they’re now taking at least a brief hiatus from playing one another, with plenty of finger pointing going around.

Recently, USC head coach Lincoln Riley pointed his finger squarely at Notre Dame for pausing the series. At his press conference before the Alamo Bowl, Riley called out the Irish and said that the Trojans had a policy of anytime and anywhere for the game.

“I think everybody knows how I feel about the game,” Lincoln Riley said. “I’ve said it multiple times. One of my first thoughts when I took the job at USC was getting to be a part of that rivalry. I have a deep respect for college football. Been a part of some great rivalries. Obviously, this is right there at the top. It’s pretty simple. We both worked for months to try and find a solution. Notre Dame was very vocal about the fact they would play us anytime, anywhere.”

Historically, the game is a home-and-home, which sees Notre Dame host in October and USC host at the end of the season. The two sides were negotiating to extend the series from different perspectives in the modern game. USC had concerns about the late-season dates of the games, according to reports. In particular, for how the selection committee punishes late season losses. A Week 0 matchup was also explored, but no solution was found.

“Obviously, them not having a conference affiliation gives them an ability to be pretty flexible with their scheduling. Jen Cohen, our AD, went back to Notre Dame roughly a couple of weeks ago,” Riley said. “With a scenario and a proposal that would extend the series for the next two years. We took Notre Dame at their word that they would play us any time, anywhere. That proposal was rejected. Not only was it rejected. Five minutes after we got the call, it was announced that they had scheduled another opponent, which I’ll give them credit. That might be the fastest scheduling act in college football history.”

Lincoln Riley is referencing the home-and-home series that Notre Dame announced with BYU for the next two seasons. It will be acting as a kind of replacement for the USC series. Those are important P4 series for Notre Dame as it relates to their strength of schedule and how the program is viewed by the CFP selection committee.

“So, I know there’s been a lot of back and forth on it. I know college football has changed a lot,” Riley said. “But the fact is very, very clear and this can all be settled very quickly. Had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere, we would be playing in the next two years and looking ahead after that and hopefully continuing the series.”

Another major hurdle that came up was the agreement Notre Dame has with the College Football Playoff. There is a MOU. Essentially, if the Irish are placed inside the top-12 moving forward, they are guaranteed a spot in the field. According Ryan Kartje of The Los Angeles Times, USC was close to compromising play in November of ’26. However, they backed off once they learned about the MOU, insisting on Week 0. That’s when the scheduling plan fell apart.

“They did not follow through on it. Thus, we are not playing them the next couple of years. We’re hopeful something can be worked out in the future. That would be fantastic. We at SC would love for the game to continue,” Riley said. “And we have no problem following through on our promises in the future.”

The chance this game was lost is nothing new. Over the summer, Lincoln Riley was asked about the future of the game. At the time, Riley made it clear that they would need to put USC ahead of history.

“But it is, it’s a unique position to be in because you feel loyal to the history and to all of that and you also feel loyalty to USC and doing the best thing we can to help us win national championships. So hopefully that’s a position that we don’t get put in,” Riley said over the summer.

The history of Notre Dame and USC is undeniable. Played since 1926, with the exception of the COVID-19 season, Notre Dame leads the all-time series 51-37-5. That includes a 3-1 record under current head coach, Marcus Freeman. The two sides have combined for 24 national championships, 15 Heisman Trophy winners, and more than 1,000 NFL draftees. The earliest the two will play now is 2028.