One of college football’s defining rivalries is set to return.
Notre Dame and USC announced Monday that their annual matchup will resume with the 2030 season. The Trojans will host the Irish in Los Angeles on Aug. 31, 2030, before the series moves to South Bend for Week 1 of the 2031 season.
The schools also said the rivalry will continue in 2032 and 2033, though the exact dates for those games have not been set. Both will be played within the first three weeks of those seasons.
That’s a major win for the sport and for a rivalry that stretches all the way back to 1926. The game had been played every year since then except during World War II and the 2020 pandemic, until negotiations on a contract extension fell apart in December and the schools announced the series would pause.
Even as talks broke down, both sides kept saying the same thing: this game mattered, and they wanted it back eventually. Now it is back, and USC got the piece it wanted most - an early-season slot.
A source told NBC Sports that Indiana’s plan to cancel its home-and-home series with Notre Dame, which had been scheduled for 2030 and 2031, also helped clear the path for the rivalry’s return. The Athletic first reported the cancellation of the Notre Dame-Indiana series.
USC athletic director Jen Cohen made the school’s position clear in a statement: “USC’s historic rivalry with Notre Dame holds a special place in the history of college football, and we are happy to resume a series that means so much to the entire Trojan Family,” USC athletic director Jen Cohen said in a statement. “It remains important for us to play this game early in the season, as it allows us to schedule competitively with our Big Ten peers and takes into account the health and best interests of our student-athletes and program.
“We are excited for our fans, and we look forward to more memorable matchups and unforgettable games between the Trojans and the Irish.”
The rivalry has been played 96 times since 1926, with Notre Dame leading the series 53-38-5. Together, the two programs have stacked up more national championships, Heisman Trophy winners and NFL draft picks than any other rivalry pair in the sport.
And while the game means plenty inside both fan bases, its reach goes well beyond that. The matchup has regularly ranked among the biggest on the college football calendar, and in recent years it has carried real College Football Playoff implications.
College football has already watched too many of its best rivalries disappear because of conference realignment. Some, including the Backyard Brawl and the Border War, found their way back as nonconference games. But with the sport changing so quickly, nothing can be taken for granted.
In this case, Notre Dame and USC made sure the rivalry survives.
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