USC's Lincoln Riley blames Notre Dame for ending rivalry series - ESPN

USC coach Lincoln Riley said Notre Dame failed to follow through on its pledge to play the Trojans "anytime, anywhere," in rapidly rejecting his school's proposal to continue the historic series in 2026 and 2027.

Riley, speaking Monday to reporters in San Antonio ahead of the team's appearance in the Valero Alamo Bowl, placed the blame for the halt to the rivalry at Notre Dame's feet. The fourth-year Trojans coach said the schools spent months working to find a way to continue the series, which began in 1926 and has been played 96 times since then (other than 2020, the teams have played annually since 1946).

Riley said USC athletic director Jen Cohen reached out with a proposal earlier this month that Notre Dame almost immediately rejected.

"We took Notre Dame at their word that they would play us anytime and anywhere," Riley said. "That proposal was rejected. Not only was it rejected.

"Five minutes after we got the call, it was announced that they had scheduled another opponent [BYU], which I'll give them credit. That might be the fastest scheduling act in college football history."

USC has wanted to play Notre Dame and all of its nonleague games in the first few weeks of the season, like most Big Ten teams do. The USC-Notre Dame game has traditionally been played in mid to late October at Notre Dame, or at the end of the regular season at USC.

Notre Dame on Dec. 22 added a home-and-home series with BYU, the Big 12 runner-up this season, to fill its final vacancy for 2026 and 2027. The Irish will visit BYU next fall before hosting the Cougars in 2026. In a joint statement, Notre Dame and USC said they will "continue working toward bringing back" the rivalry, but a resumption likely wouldn't happen until 2030 at the earliest.

"Had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere, we would be playing in the next two years, and looking ahead after that and hopefully, continuing the series," Riley said. "They did not follow through on it. Thus, we are not playing them the next couple years."

Riley, who has lost three straight games to Notre Dame after beating the Irish in his debut season at USC, said he has great respect for the rivalry. He noted that Notre Dame being an FBS independent gives the school additional flexibility with its schedule that USC doesn't have as a Big Ten member.

In a letter to the USC community last month, Cohen wrote that USC is the only Big Ten school to play a nonleague opponent after Week 4 in the past two seasons, and that the school must schedule primarily with the College Football Playoff in mind. USC has never made the CFP.

"Intentionally making our road to the CFP significantly more difficult than our Big Ten peers does not align with our goal to win championships," Cohen said at the time.

Riley said he's "hopeful" an agreement to resume the Notre Dame series is worked out in the future.

"We at USC would love for the game to continue," Riley said, "and we have no problem following through on our promises in the future."