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Lincoln Riley goes in depth on USC - Notre Dame: 'Do I want to play the game? Hell yeah, I want to play the game'

Erik-McKinneyby:Erik McKinney•07/24/25•

ErikTMcKinney

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the USC Trojans get into a scuffle during pregame at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the USC Trojans get into a scuffle during pregame at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. (Matt Cashore-Imagn Images)

The future of the USC – Notre Dame rivalry game appears to be on life support heading into the 2025 season as the meeting this October is the final scheduled matchup between the two programs. USC offered a one-year extension to the rivalry for 2026 and does not appear to want to lock into a longterm plan until there is more clarity regarding the number of guaranteed berths into the College Football Playoff. Notre Dame is adamant about continuing the rivalry as it stands, with USC visiting South Bend in October of odd years and the Irish heading to Los Angeles at the end of the season in even years.

At Big Ten Media Day, Riley shared his thoughts. He said the structure of College Football Playoff selections is “certainly gonna have an impact” on both continuing the rivalry and when to play the game.

Riley said rivalries are a huge part of what makes college football great and the USC – Notre Dame one is special. He recalled a story about when Bob Stoops offered him the offensive coordinator position at Oklahoma, his first thought was that he was going to get to coach in the Oklahoma – Texas rivalry game. The same was true for this USC position.

“When I decided the night at my house to take the USC job, my first thought was, ‘I get to coach in USC – Notre Dame,'” Riley said. “The rivalry — all these rivalries — mean a great deal to me. They mean a great deal to anybody that cares about college football. Yes. Do I want to play the game? Hell yeah, I want to play the game. That’s one of the reasons I came here.

“But also,” Riley continued. “My allegiance and my loyalty is not to Notre Dame. It’s not to anybody else. I’m the head football coach at USC and I’m going to back USC and I’m going to do everything in my power to make USC as good as it can be. I’m not going to let anything stand in between that. So I’m very hopeful we can get to a point where it makes sense.”

Riley said the two schools right now are in “radically different situations” with USC being in the Big Ten and Notre Dame not being in a conference. He finished with a pitch for automatic qualifying to the playoffs beyond more than just the conference championships.

“This might be the most important one,” Riley said. “We give every reason for college football to preserve non-conference games that mean a lot to the history of the game, to the fan bases, the former players and everybody that’s been associated with it. I’m very hopeful that we can get there and I’m very hopeful that we play this game forever.”

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Garry Paskwietz (1966-2019)

Garry Paskwietz was a pioneer in bringing team-specific sports coverage to the internet. He founded WeAreSC in 1998 and was an Emmy winner for his work with Fox Sports West. Always generous with his time, knowledge, and compassion, he touched the lives of countless USC and high school football fans.

Garry Paskwietz