A few probably
The story of how the USC Trojans are likely to be scheming a way to weasel out of the annual Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish isn’t something new. Ever since Lincoln Riley opened his mouth at Big 10 media days last year, the prospect of this series becoming defunct, has hung in the air like a bad fart.
“I would love to [continue the series]. I know it means a lot to a lot of people. The purist in you, no doubt. Now if you get in a position where you got to make a decision on what’s best for SC to help us win a national championship vs. keeping that, shoot, then you got to look at it.
“And listen, we’re not the first example of that. Look all the way across the country. There has been a lot of other teams sacrifice rivalry games. And I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen. But as we get into this playoff structure, and if it changes or not, we’re in this new conference, we’re going to learn something about this as we go and what the right and the best track is to winning a national championship, that’s going to evolve.”
Lately, however, the banter surrounding the future of this rivalry’ has greatly increased on this site, on podcasts, and well… everywhere (shout out Tim Prister). When the Irish and the Clemson Tigers announced a 12 year scheduling agreement together and mutually called the game a “rivalry”, fans and alumni started to wonder if this was the beginning of the end for ND vs Southern Cal.
Enter Pat Forde dashing behind (that’s a bad joke but a funny joke as well).
News: The USC-Notre Dame rivalry, one of the greatest in college football, is on the brink of ending this fall. The two sides see the situation very differently, with talks ongoing. https://t.co/VsPyH8NyvC
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) May 19, 2025
If you’re wondering why Pat Forde’s post is something new, it’s because it adds a bit of fog to the whole thing. Most of us were under the assumption that when USC finally showed its yellow belly, it would be after the game in L.A. in 2026. As it turns out, the entire assumption is inaccurate because there is no game scheduled for 2026.
As Forde points out, the series comes to an end in 2025 in South Bend with USC trying to push for just a one year extension, while the Irish are obviously looking for a long-term agreement.
Yes, it’s exactly what it looks like. USC wants to end the series in L.A. for the hope of winning the final game of this historic rivalry — and the Irish want to keep playing for as long as they can.
USC associate athletic director Cody Worsham offered these words to SI:
“We want the USC–Notre Dame rivalry to continue, which is why we offered an extension of our agreement. It’s a special game to our fans and our institution. We will continue to work with Notre Dame on scheduling future games.”
On the surface it shows some willingness to continue the rivalry, but the phrase, “scheduling future games,” can be left wide open for interpretation. My personal opinion is that USC wants to look like they’re trying to save the game while simultaneously trying to cook up a way to end anything annual about it,
Which is criminal behavior.
I still see massive support online from USC alumni and fans to keep this rivalry. While I’m not sure how much of their voice will be heard by the Southern Cal administration — it’s nice to know who the real college football fans are out there.
I’ve already said enough about this subject in various posts, podcasts, and social platforms so I don’t think I need to say much more. If you, however, would like to think of a fun way to call USC and/or Lincoln Riley a coward — no one is going to stop you in the comment section below.