Lincoln Riley, USC go on offensive following Notre Dame rivalry split
The USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish will not play for the next several years as the program could not come to a scheduling agreement to continue a series that had been interrupted only by World War II and Covid since 1926. The two sides put out a joint statement when that news was released. But USC head coach Lincoln Riley made a statement of his own on Monday at the Alamo Bowl press conference.
“I’d be happy to discuss it,” Riley said when a question about the series was asked. “Everybody knows how I feel about the game. 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 really great rivalries. Obviously, this is right there up at the top.”
While the blame game between the rivalry split played out in the media with Notre Dame leading the charge from the beginning in placing the fault at the feet of USC, the narrative shifted at the end of the year as more information came out and Notre Dame opted out of a bowl game. Riley landed a knock-out blow on Monday.
“It’s pretty simple,” Riley said. “We both worked for months to try to find a solution. Notre Dame was very vocal about the fact that they would play us anytime, anywhere. Obviously, them not having a conference affiliation gives them an ability to be pretty flexible with the scheduling…We went back, Jen Cohen, our AD, went back to Notre Dame roughly a couple of weeks go 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 pay us anytime, anywhere.
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“That proposal was rejected,” Riley continued. “Not only was it rejected, but five minutes after we got the call, it was announced they scheduled another opponent. Which, I’ll give them credit, that might be the fastest scheduling act in college football history.
“I know there’s been a lot of back and forth on it,” Riley said. “I know college football has changed a lot. But the fact is very, very clear. This can all be settled very quickly. Had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere, we would be playing the next two years. And looking ahead after that, hopefully continuing the series. They did not follow through on it, thus we are not playing them the next couple 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. We have no problem following through on our promises in the future.”
Notre Dame scheduled BYU for a two-game series in 2026 and 2027, instead of the games against USC. The Trojans are hosting Fresno State and Louisiana in 2026, but still have an open date to fill in its non-conference schedule.
