A series that has always felt like it would always be might end after this Saturday. World War I ended just eight years prior to Notre Dame and Southern Cal’s first meeting on a football field in 1926. The two iconic programs played annually until World War II forced a pause in the series from 1943-1945 but they met year after year from 1946-2019 until the Covid-19 pandemic ended a run of 73 consecutive meetings between the Fighting Irish and the Trojans.
This Saturday night’s game at Notre Dame Stadium will be the 96th all-time meeting in the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football. It is also the last guaranteed game between the two because there is currently no contract for the two teams to play again after this Saturday.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has been steadfast in his desire to see the series continue.
“They ask my opinion, it’s very clear: Let’s continue this thing,” Freeman said this week. “They know the rest of it. When (Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua), Ron Powlus, our leadership, they’ll handle the discussions. They know the head coach of this football program desires to continue this rivalry, and it’s not just because I’m at Notre Dame. It’s because I think it’s great for college football. I think the rivalry between Notre Dame and USC is a great rivalry; one of the best. I think it’s great for college football and two institutions to continue this rivalry.”
Southern Cal head coach Lincoln Riley, who like Freeman is in his fourth season as head coach at his school, has been less unconditional about his willingness to continue the historic rivalry. At the Big 10’s media days in July, Riley voiced his support to continue playing the Fighting Irish. But he also said he does not want to do it if it hurts USC’s chances to make the College Football Playoff.
“Do I want to play the game?” Riley said. “Hell yeah, I want to play the game. Absolutely. It’s one of the reasons I came here. But also, 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 possible that I can, in my power, to make us as good as I can. I’m not going to let anything stand in between that.”
Jen Cohen, who has been USC’s athletic director since 2023, made public comments on the future of the series recently as well. Cohen said in August that keeping the series going is a priority for her school.
“We’re trying to extend the series,” Cohen told the LA Times in late August. “This is an important series for us and for our fans and for our program, and hopefully we get to a resolution that supports that and is in the best interest of our program.”
USC reportedly offered to extend the series through 2026, but Notre Dame prefers a long-term deal. A recent twist emerged when Netflix reached out to USC about the possibility of televising the 2026 matchup at a neutral site like Mexico City or Las Vegas. That deal fell through because of USC’s Big Ten affiliation, and the Big Ten’s media rights deals with FOX, CBS and NBC.
“I know our leadership, administration and their leadership, administration are talking to try to find a way to extend this rivalry,” Freeman said. “I’m confident it will be extended, but I don’t have any proof it’s being extended right now. But I know there’s discussions. Hopefully we can continue this great rivalry. My focus right now for me obviously is this one. It’s the only one that’s guaranteed. Put everything you’ve got into this one.”
Cohen told the LA Times that the date of the game is played is the biggest issue for Southern Cal in negotiating an extension. Travel has been a vocal concern from the Trojan side as well for a program that is in its second season in the Big 10. The Trojans were 0-4 in conference road games that required a flight (their only B1G road win last season was at UCLA). They are 1-1 in B1G road games this season.
“It’s not very typical that a P4 school would travel back and forth across the country for a nonconference game in the middle of October,” Cohen said to the LA Times. “Show me who else is doing that and doing the kind of travel we’re doing. It’s a cool tradition to play at the end of the year, but then those are back-to-back rivalry games with a conference championship — and our opponent doesn’t play in a conference championship.”
Bevacqua, a Notre Dame alum, has been steadfast in his desire to see the series continue.
“I think Southern Cal and Notre Dame should play every year for as long as college football is played, and SC knows that’s how we feel,” Bevacqua told Sports Illustrated last spring.
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