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Lincoln Riley on Notre Dame rivalry hiatus: ‘We want to play the game’
By Ethan Stone
Published:
USC and Notre Dame will not face off in 2026 for the first time since 2020, and before that, World War II. The Trojans and Fighting Irish failed to secure an agreement on future games following Notre Dame’s 34-24 win over USC in 2025.
The reasoning for this hiatus boils down to timing. According to a report from Yahoo! Sports Ross Dellenger last year, the Trojans want to play the game early in the season — during USC’s typical non-conference window. Notre Dame, however, wanted the game to be set later in the season, as the Fighting Irish play a non-typical, Non-P4 schedule for an elite program.
“The rivalry between our two schools is one of the best in all of sport and we look forward to meeting in the future,” a joint release said, announcing the pause for the series in 2026 and beyond.
On Tuesday, while speaking at Big Ten Media Days, Riley weighed in on the paused rivalry matchup. He said that, if it were up to him, USC would be facing the Fighting Irish. Riley said, “We would be playing the game if some things came true that were said. And so hopefully we get to that point.”
Notre Dame currently leads the series 53-37-5.
Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.