Lincoln Riley Speaks Out on USC-Notre Dame Rivalry Break: “We Took Them at Their Word”
The USC-Notre Dame rivalry is hitting pause - and Lincoln Riley isn’t mincing words about why.
Speaking ahead of USC’s Alamo Bowl appearance, Riley addressed the abrupt halt to one of college football’s most storied matchups. The game, which dates back to 1926, won’t be played in either of the next two seasons. And according to Riley, the reason is clear: Notre Dame walked away.
“I think everybody knows how I feel about the game,” Riley said. “I’ve said it multiple times - one of my first thoughts when I took the job at USC was getting to be a part of that rivalry.”
Riley’s respect for the matchup is evident. He’s coached in some of the sport’s biggest rivalries, and he places USC-Notre Dame among the very best. So when talks about continuing the series hit a wall, he didn’t hold back.
“It’s pretty simple,” Riley continued. “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. And obviously, them not having a conference affiliation gives them an ability to be pretty flexible with their scheduling.”
That flexibility became a sticking point. USC, now part of the Big Ten, faces a demanding travel slate and a nine-game conference schedule.
To make the rivalry work, USC proposed shifting the traditional dates - typically mid-October in South Bend and late November in Los Angeles - to earlier in the season. The goal?
Create room in an already-loaded calendar.
Jen Cohen, USC’s athletic director, reportedly brought a new proposal to Notre Dame just weeks ago. It would’ve kept the rivalry alive for the next two seasons - just on new dates.
“We took Notre Dame at their word,” Riley said. “That they’d play us anytime, anywhere.
Lincoln Riley’s full comment on the #USC-Notre Dame rivalry game ending:
— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) December 29, 2025
“Had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere we’d be playing them the next two years.” @ThePeristyle pic.twitter.com/bhSc94WfYI
That proposal was rejected. And not only was it rejected - five minutes after we got the call, it was announced that they had scheduled another opponent.”
Riley didn’t name the new opponent, but the message was loud and clear: Notre Dame moved on, and fast.
“I’ll give them credit,” he said with a wry smile. “That might be the fastest scheduling act in college football history.”
The frustration is understandable. For USC, the rivalry isn’t just tradition - it’s identity.
And Riley made it clear that the Trojans were willing to adapt to keep it alive. But when the Irish declined to budge from the traditional calendar, the two sides hit a dead end.
“Had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere, we would be playing them the next two years,” Riley said. “They did not follow through on it. Thus, we are not playing them.”
Still, Riley left the door open for reconciliation.
“We’re hopeful something can be worked out in the future - that would be fantastic,” he said. “We at SC would love for the game to continue, and we have no problem following through on our promises in the future.”
This standoff highlights a broader issue facing college football: the strain that realignment is putting on long-standing rivalries. As conferences grow and schedules tighten, non-conference traditions like USC-Notre Dame are becoming harder to maintain.
USC’s move to the Big Ten brought with it cross-country travel and a more rigid calendar. And while the Trojans could’ve chosen to keep the rivalry in its traditional spot - likely at the cost of a brutal midseason stretch - they instead sought flexibility.
That’s not uncommon. Plenty of non-conference rivalries, including the Apple Cup and Backyard Brawl, have shifted to earlier in the season to adapt to the modern landscape.
Notre Dame, for its part, reportedly wanted to keep things as they’ve always been. That insistence on tradition, while admirable in spirit, ultimately became the roadblock.
So here we are: a 99-year rivalry on hold, not because of a lack of desire, but because the pieces no longer fit.
Whether this is a temporary break or a long-term parting remains to be seen. But if there’s one thing both sides seem to agree on, it’s that the game should continue.
The passion is there. The history is too rich to ignore.
For now, though, the rivalry takes a timeout - another casualty of the ever-evolving college football landscape.