USC Reportedly Reluctant to Agree to Notre Dame Series Long Term Amid CFP Uncertainty

The long-term future of the annual college football matchups between Notre Dame and USC is murky.

Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde reported Monday that USC has "expressed reluctance to enter into a long-term deal" with the Fighting Irish due to uncertainty surrounding the College Football Playoff format.

The Trojans have offered a one-year extension to play in Los Angeles in 2026 while Notre Dame "desires" another long-term deal, per Forde. Discussions between the two schools are still ongoing.

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua confirmed that the school is attempting to continue the rivalry.

“I think Southern Cal and Notre Dame should play every year for as long as college football is played, and SC knows that’s how we feel," Bevacqua said, per Forde.

College Football Playoff leaders are reportedly nearing an agreement to change the CFP bracket format, resulting in the removal of automatic first-round byes given to conference champions.

USC Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen previously brought up the new CFP format when discussing the outlook of the rivalry with Antonio Morales of The Athletic.

"We’re now playing in a conference where we fly back and forth across the country every other week, and CFP expansion and how you get access to the CFP and how things are seeded and selected," Cohen said (h/t Adam Bradford of Trojans Wire). "Those, to me, are important, unanswered questions. So we remain in conversations with Notre Dame about the series."

The Trojans wrapped up their first season as a member of the Big Ten in 2024, finishing with a 7-6 record. Meanwhile, Notre Dame owned a 14-2 record and went on a CFP run before suffering an 11-point loss to Ohio State in the national championship game.

While the future of the meetings between the two schools is up in the air, they're still set to meet in 2025.