The Notre Dame-USC rivalry is coming back on the schedule, and the first meeting in the new series is already lined up for the opening week of 2030.
USC announced Monday, Aug. 3, that it has reached an agreement with Notre Dame to renew the matchup in a four-game series. The 2030 game will be played in the LA Coliseum in Southern California during Week 1, while the 2031 game will also land in Week 1 but shift to South Bend, Ind. The final two games in the series are scheduled for Weeks 1-3 in 2032 and 2033.
USC Football said the series is “renewed” and noted that the Trojans will play Notre Dame in a four-game series beginning in the Coliseum in 2030.
Per On3’s Pete Nakos, Notre Dame had to drop its home-and-home series with Indiana that was scheduled for 2030 and 2031 in order to make room for the USC series.
This is one of college football’s premier rivalries, and the history backs that up. Notre Dame and USC have met 96 times, with the Fighting Irish holding the edge in the series at 53-38-5.
The teams last faced each other in 2025, when Notre Dame beat USC 34-24. That result fit a recent pattern for the Irish, who have won three of the last four meetings and seven of the last eight.
USC coach Lincoln Riley welcomed the news and explained why getting the game early in the season matters for his program.
“We felt like the best thing for our program was to play this game early in the season,” Riley said. “We’re a part of a conference, we have a conference schedule to answer to. We don’t make our own schedule.”
The matchup will put the Shillelagh Trophy back in play, and that’s a familiar sight college football fans will be glad to see again.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Just Changed How Indiana's Future Schedule Will Be Judged
Indianas future nonconference slate took another hit when its planned home-and-home series with Notre Dame for 2030-31 was canceled, removing one of the more recognizable games from the Hoosiers schedule. The change comes as Notre Dame moved to renew its rivalry with USC in a four-game series, keeping one of college footballs marquee matchups on the calendar and leaving Indiana to keep reshaping its own future dates.
For Indiana, the timing only sharpens the conversation around how its schedules will be judged going forward. The Hoosiers currently do not have any Power Four non-conference opponents lined up, a detail that has already drawn criticism about the strength of their future slates. Losing Notre Dame adds another layer to that scrutiny, especially with so much attention now on how programs position themselves for selection committees and public perception alike. [Read more 🡒]
Lincoln Riley Just Added Real Heat To Notre Dame-USC Again
Lincoln Riley has put fresh attention back on one of college footballs most stubborn rivalries by revisiting the Notre Dame-USC scheduling issue. The USC coach pointed to the reality of the Trojans conference calendar as part of the reason the matchup has landed where it has, while also taking aim at Notre Dames choices along the way. It is the kind of public back-and-forth that keeps a long-running series from going stale, even when the games themselves are still years away.
For Notre Dame, the timing matters because the rivalry is officially set to restart in 2030, with the games scheduled early in the season. That only raises the stakes around every comment and countercomment between the two sides, especially when the conversation shifts from tradition to logistics. Rileys latest remarks do not change the calendar, but they do remind both fan bases that the tension around this series is already back in full view. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Is Still Waiting On The Indiana Matchup Fans Wanted
Indiana footballs future non-conference slate has been drawing attention, and not in the way Notre Dame fans had hoped. Under Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers have mapped out a schedule through 2029 that stays away from any Power Four opponent outside the Big Ten, a sharp turn from the kind of game that can make an autumn calendar feel a little bigger.
Indiana had previously had games with Virginia and Louisville on the books before moving on to lighter opponents, and Cignetti has described the approach as SEC-style in its emphasis on conference play. For Notre Dame, though, the matchup people keep circling is still a ways off, with the first series between the programs now slated for 2030-31. [Read more 🡒]