USC coach Lincoln Riley blames Notre Dame for ending 96-year rivalry with shocking scheduling change

USC Trojans caput shot manager Lincoln Riley is pointing fingers toward South Bend, Indiana.

The USC-Notre Dame shot rivalry is 1 of the champion successful the sport, but it’s travel to an extremity arsenic some programs were incapable to travel to an statement connected an hold to play each different for the 2026-27 play series.

Riley made an quality successful beforehand of the media earlier his Trojans look TCU successful the Valero Alamo Bowl, wherever helium didn’t caput taking a changeable astatine the Fighting Irish.

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Head manager Lincoln Riley of the USC Trojans looks connected anterior to a crippled against the UCLA Bruins astatine Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum connected Nov. 29, 2025, successful Los Angeles, California. (Harry How/Getty Images)

"It’s beauteous simple. We some worked for months to effort to find a solution," Riley explained, per The New York Post. "Notre Dame was precise vocal astir the information that they would play america anytime, anywhere. Obviously, them not having a league affiliation gives them an quality to beryllium beauteous flexible with their scheduling.

"We went back, Jen Cohen, our A.D., went backmost to Notre Dame astir a mates of weeks agone with a script and a connection that would widen the bid for the adjacent 2 years. That connection was rejected."

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Riley wasn’t done, though. He didn’t similar however Notre Dame rapidly recovered a caller hostile aft the rejection.

"Not lone was it rejected, 5 minutes aft we got the call, it was announced that they had scheduled different opponent, which I’ll springiness them credit. That mightiness beryllium the fastest scheduling enactment successful assemblage shot history," helium said.

The squad Notre Dame went with alternatively of USC was BYU, agreeing to a home-and-home bid alternatively of going with their accustomed rival connected the schedule.

Meanwhile, USC is inactive trying to fig retired who volition capable retired their schedule.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish caput manager Marcus Freeman reacts aft an Irish touchdown against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the 2nd 4th astatine Acrisure Stadium connected Nov. 15, 2025.  (Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images)

Since 1926, the Trojans and Fighting Irish person been butting heads connected the gridiron, playing 96 times with lone 4 missed games implicit that span.

And those missed games? Three from 1943-45 owed to World War II and 1 successful the 2020 play owed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We took Notre Dame astatine their connection that they would play america anytime, anywhere," Riley added. "Had Notre Dame lived up to their connection and played america anytime, anywhere, we would beryllium playing successful the adjacent 2 years, and looking up aft that, hopefully continuing the series."

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Instead, the all-time bid for the 2 storied programs volition proceed to beryllium astatine 51-37-5 successful favour of the Fighting Irish.

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