Notre Dame in talks to continue rivalry with this team

Scheduling for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish has always been difficult. Having to build a competitive schedule with conferences expanding makes it difficult as opposing teams do not always need to have major nonconference games to impress the College Football Playoff committee. Conference expansion has also killed some of college football’s biggest rivalries. One of Notre Dame’s biggest rivalries has officially ended, but there is a chance at a revival happening. Let’s take a closer look at who it is with and what the latest update is.

Notre Dame vs. USC rivalry could happen once again

The Notre Dame vs. USC Trojans rivalry has been a major game every college football season. Since 1926, they have played annually outside of World War II (1943-45) and in 2020 due to COVID. However, the rivalry died as the two sides were unable to agree to how the series should continue. Los Angeles Times reporter, Ryan Kartje, published a story on Monday saying that conversations between the two schools have opened back up.

“A person familiar with the discussions not authorized to talk about them publicly told The Times that Notre Dame is now willing ot discuss playing the game earlier in the season, which had previously been a sticking point. Given future scheduling agreements, it’s possible that the two schools still wont meet again on a football field until the 2030 season.”

The scheduling dispute that ended this was USC wanting to move the game to earlier in the season to align with the Big Ten Conference schedule. However, Notre Dame did not want to do that and instead wanted to keep the game towards the end of the year. As a result, the two programs could not agree to terms. With the contract expiring at the end of the 2025 season, there is no game scheduled for the 2026 or 2027 seasons between the two sides.

USC coach Lincoln Riley expressed some disappointment with this result after their matchup last year. These talks could have this matchup continue, but this would likely not happen until 2030. The Fighting Irish scheduled a home-and-home series with the BYU Cougars to fill that void in the schedule for those two years. It will be intriguing to see if the two schools can figure out how to keep this historic rivalry alive.

What has the Notre Dame vs. USC series looked like?

The Trojans and the Fighting Irish have been one of the largest college football rivalries. There have been 93 meetings between the two programs, with Notre Dame holding a 51-37-5 all-time record, including a three-game winning streak. This annual game has been a battle of two of the better teams in the sport, and having it continue would be a major win for college football.

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