After months of uncertainty, one of college football’s most iconic rivalries is officially on pause. Notre Dame and USC-two programs that have been squaring off since 1926-won’t face each other in 2026 or 2027.
Instead, Notre Dame will fill that slot with a home-and-home series against BYU. And just like that, a century of tradition is put on ice.
The decision didn’t come out of nowhere. Tensions had been simmering for a while, and the final break was the result of a scheduling standoff that neither side could resolve.
USC ultimately backed out of a proposed date in November, citing concerns about how the College Football Playoff committee tends to penalize late-season losses. That hesitation followed earlier comments from head coach Lincoln Riley in 2024, when he publicly questioned whether the Notre Dame game should remain on the schedule.
Since then, most of the frustration-fairly or not-has landed squarely on USC’s side of the field.
And it’s not just Notre Dame fans voicing their disappointment. Plenty of USC supporters are just as upset, including one of the Trojans’ most recognizable voices: Keyshawn Johnson. The former USC star didn’t hold back in a fiery video posted to social media, taking direct aim at Riley and the school’s leadership for letting the rivalry slip away.
“I don't know what the F is going on with our athletic department,” Johnson said, clearly exasperated. “We got people in there that are not Trojans, that don't know anything about being a Trojan, running our athletic department. We got a head coach that knows nothing about being a Trojan.”
Johnson’s frustration wasn’t just about the rivalry disappearing-it was about what he sees as a broader identity crisis within the program. “Why don’t we just not play football?”
he asked, sarcastically. “We’re not gonna play Notre Dame again until possibly 2030, is what I’m understanding.
That doesn’t make any sense.”
He didn’t stop there. Johnson called out Riley directly, recalling the coach’s previous comments about the rivalry’s future.
“If I can remember correctly, I had Lincoln Riley saying, ‘Well, I don’t know if I want to play them in the future.’ You ain’t gonna be here in the future!
Especially if you keep missing the playoffs.”
That’s the heart of the issue for many USC fans. The program has lofty goals-national championships, playoff berths, recruiting dominance.
But skipping out on the Notre Dame game, a matchup that’s been a staple of college football for generations, feels like a step backward. And Johnson made it clear: if the Trojans are ducking tough games now, what’s next?
“Are we running from teams now?” he asked.
“We running from Notre Dame? Hell, why don’t we run from Oregon and Michigan and Ohio State and Wisconsin?
Why don’t we just not be in a conference? Why don’t we pull that move and just play Sacramento State?
UC Davis?”
It’s a passionate rant, but one grounded in a real concern-what does it say about a program’s culture when it backs away from its biggest rivalry?
Johnson pointed to other legendary matchups that have stood the test of time-Michigan-Ohio State, Alabama-Auburn-and questioned why USC-Notre Dame couldn’t do the same. “They ain’t canceling that,” he said.
“Why would we cancel our biggest rivalry? Because we can’t beat ’em?
It’s ridiculous.”
What makes this all the more striking is that while conference realignment and expanded schedules have forced some programs to rethink their non-conference slates, traditional rivalry games have mostly survived. Until now. The USC-Notre Dame series is arguably the highest-profile casualty of the new era of college football, where playoff positioning and strength of schedule often outweigh history and tradition.
And here’s the kicker: this decision only ramps up the pressure on Riley and USC. The Trojans just landed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, a major win on the trail.
But if the rationale for canceling the Notre Dame game is to avoid a potential late-season blemish that could derail a playoff run, then there’s no margin for error. USC has to deliver.
No rivalry game means no excuses.
If Riley and the Trojans fall short in 2026-without the Irish on the schedule-then Johnson’s warning might echo louder than anyone at USC would like: “You ain’t gonna be here in the future.”
The rivalry may be on hold, but the scrutiny? That’s just getting started.