Matt Leinart defends USC over pausing rivalry with Notre Dame

Former USC quarterback Matt Leinart defended his alma mater for pausing their rivalry with Notre Dame in the future. There is no scheduled game for 2026 and beyond at this time.

“Call me lame but I’m going to trust a school that’s produced more Heisman winners than anyone else in history and 11 National Championships to do what’s right for the program,” Leinart wrote on Twitter/X. “Texas and A&M played forever and then they didn’t. Same with Utah and BYU. It was a bummer but the world didn’t end. Here’s hoping this is a momentary pause just like those. Fight on and Merry Christmas.”

Reportedly, USC is pausing the rivalry due to Notre Dame’s agreement with the College Football Playoff. The Fighting Irish have a MOU for 2026 that if they are ranked in the top 12 of the CFP rankings at year’s end, they are guaranteed a spot in the bracket.

If the MOU were in effect this season, Notre Dame would have gotten into the field over Miami despite being ranked lower. Miami also held the head-to-head matchup, jumping Notre Dame at the last possible moment. This scenario playing out against USC was apparently a concern for administration in Los Angeles.

“Had Notre Dame had its new agreement with the CFP committee in place in 2025, the Irish would’ve gotten in over Miami, who beat them earlier in the season,” LA Times’ Ryan Kartje said via X. “That scenario was a concern to USC.”

Now, for just the second time since World War II, there will not be a game between Notre Dame and USC. It’s one of the more storied rivalries in college football despite the two never sharing a conference. We are not too far away from 100 games between them, sitting at 93 after the 2025 edition took place in South Bend.

Notre Dame already has a game on the ’26 and ’27 schedule to replace USC. A home-and-home series will take place with BYU, a team they could have played in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in a few days.