USC Trojans Coach Lincoln Riley Previews Notre Dame: 'I Love Rivalry Games'

The USC Trojans will conclude their regular season with a matchup vs. the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday afternoon. Trojans coach Lincoln Riley spoke about the rivalry between the two programs and how he sees USC on an upward trajectory heading into 2025.

Nov 18, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley during the second quarter against the UCLA Bruins at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images / Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans will host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to close out the the 2024 regular season. 

Trojans coach Lincoln Riley spoke about the upcoming matchup on Tuesday and future of the USC program. 

Lincoln Riley on Facing Notre Dame: “I Love Rivalry Games”

Oct 14, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Xavier Watts (0) scores a touchdown in front of USC Trojans wide receiver Mario Williams (4) after a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 48-20. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish have one of the most historic rivals in all of college football. They first played each other in 1926 and have since faced off 93 times. The Irish lead the series with 51 wins to the Trojans 37. There have been 5 ties. 

Notre Dame has won 5 of the last 6 meeting including last year in South Bend. Lincoln Riley will be coaching in his third USC-Notre Dame game on Saturday.

“It’s always an important game. It’s a rivalry game. There’s a lot of history behind it,” Riley said. “When you come here, the history behind this game is so epic…I love rivalry games and can’t wait for it to get here.”

USC and Notre Dame will kick off at 12:30 pm PST at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. 

The Trojans locked up a bowl game berth last week vs. UCLA and are looking to finish the season on a good note. Notre Dame on the other hand is fighting for their College Football Playoff lives. The Irish are 10-1 and ranked No. 5 in this week’s playoff rankings. A loss could knock them out of the playoff picture completely.

Trojans Building Towards 2025

Nov 23, 2024; Pasadena, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley during the fourth quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans have had a bumpy 2024 season. It started great with wins over LSU and Utah State to get the Trojans ranked as high as No. 11 in the country, but they hit a dry spell in the middle of the season. They are now 6-5 and eyeing a bounce back next season. 

Lincoln Riley was asked if there will be a different approach next season with the roster construction and style of play.

“Whatever it takes,” Riley said. “Whatever personnel groupings it is, however we play, that doesn’t really matter to me. Just want to do what’s best.”

The USC offensive line has been under a microscope in the Trojans first season in the Big Ten. Coach Lincoln Riley has seen improvement throughout the year and is excited for what this unit can bring to the table in the future. 

“Since then (Michigan game), we’ve been on a pretty steady incline,” Riley said. “Some of it is what I’m seeing on Saturday’s but some of it is what I’m seeing on the practice field…We got a lot of good looking lineman that are talented that are talented and goi ng to be good players…I think there’s a lot of guys that are going to be big time players for us and depth; depth has a chance to be a championship quality depth here pretty soon.”

Riley also mentioned that it has not been easy sledding for the USC with the opposing defenses they have faced on their schedule. 

“When this season ends, you look back at the defensive rankings of the teams we’ve played and there’s some stuff like relative scoring that will be pretty interesting stats,” Riley said. “When you don’t play three layups in non-conference and when you play in the conference with the defenses we do, we hadn’t played against a bad defense…That’s battle tested us. We’ve gotten better.”

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