When Notre Dame announced a home-and-home series with BYU last week, it marked the end — at least temporarily — to its rivalry with USC. The only things that interrupted the 100-year-old rivalry prior to this upcoming hiatus were World War II (1943-45) and COVID (2020). If you ask Lincoln Riley, the reason USC and Notre Dame aren’t playing next season, though, falls squarely on the Fighting Irish.
Riley spoke about the USC-Notre Dame rivalry on Monday afternoon. He reminded people of how he feels about it, then blasted the Fighting Irish for not being willing to play the Trojans, “anytime, anywhere.”
“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 part of that rivalry,” 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 … had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere we’d be playing them the next two years.”
Riley said Notre Dame’s announcement with BYU came “5 minutes” after the Fighting Irish rejected what turned out to be USC’s last proposal. He added that “might be the fastest scheduling act in college football history.”
For better or worse, USC and Notre Dame will now have to wait a bit before facing each other again. Each jab they take only adds fuel to the fire for their next matchup. Whenever and wherever it takes place, we’re sure to see real passion on display.
