Notre Dame-USC Rivalry Not Going Anywhere for Now

Lincoln Riley may have ideas but for they're just that - ideas

Oct 14, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; USC Trojans wide receiver Mario Williams (4) loses the ball as he is hit by Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback Cam Hart (5) in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 48-20. / Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

USC head football coach Lincoln Riley didn't hide his intentions too well last week at Big Ten media days.

When asked about the future of the Notre Dame-USC rivalry now that USC has joined the Big Ten, Riley played up the history but plenty of room for questions about the past.

"I would love to," Riley said, "I know it means a lot to a lot of people. The purist in you, no doubt. Now if you get in a position where you got to make a decision on what's best for SC to help us win a national championship versus keeping that, shoot, then you got to look at it."

Notre Dame Athletic Director Suggests Otherwise

New Notre Dame athletic director Ken Bevacqua had a significantly different tone when he was asked about the future of the famed rivalry.

And mentioned that those in charge at USC share his views, too.

"We have every intention in the world and every desire to keep that USC-Notre Dame game going for as long as it possibly can," Bevacqua told Vannini. "Everything we heard from USC and the people we've been talking to over the course of the last year and beyond is they're gung ho as well. It's one of the great rivalries not just in football but in all sports. We absolutely want to continue that rivalry. We think it's wonderful for Notre Dame. We think it's wonderful for Southern Cal. We think it's great for college football. It's hard to imagine a college football landscape where Notre Dame and USC aren't playing each other on an annual basis."

Bevacqua shared that with Chris Vannini of The Athletic.

Adults Still Making Decisions at USC

My first thought when hearing Riley's comments last week was that this guy was again trying to run from competition.

He ran from Oklahoma not long after it announced it was leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.

Despite being a candidate for the LSU job in 2021, Riley chose to go to USC and the Pac 12 while Brian Kelly instead went to coach "in the American League East" as the current Tigers head coach described it.

Riley tried to get USC out of its opener against LSU this season but was unsuccessful.

Riley did get USC out of playing a home-and-home with Ole Miss in 2025 and 2026

And despite his best efforts to start the politicking required to drop a rivalry game like Notre Dame vs. USC, he seems to have been entirely shot down by those who actually make the decisions at Southern Cal.

USC's Proud Scheduling History

You can say a lot of things about USC historically but one thing you can't question is the program's desire to put together a challenging schedule year after year.

USC already had the Pac 10/12 schedule to get through each year but in addition have found out-of-conference dates with Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, Nebraska, Virginia Tech, BYU, Auburn, and Ohio State since the start of the 2000's.

USC is one of only two FBS programs to never schedule a game against an FCS opponent (UCLA).

And on top of that, USC has played Notre Dame out of conference annually since 1926 except for when World War II and the Covid pandemic put temporary stops to it.

The decision makers at USC have never been afraid to schedule the big dogs out of conference and despite Lincoln Riley's best efforts, it appears that won't be changing anytime soon.

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