Why USC Reportedly 'Reversed Course' on Notre Dame Schedule After Agreement on Rivalry

USC and Notre Dame's failure to renew their longstanding rivalry matchup for at least the 2026-29 seasons largely came down to scheduling and the rule that will allow the Fighting Irish to automatically qualify for the College Football Playoff starting in the 2026 season as long as they are ranked in the top 12, according to Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times.

Per that report, the two schools were close to announcing a continuation of the rivalry series when they met in October. USC officials were not yet aware of the memorandum of understanding agreement, however.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley spoke on the ending of the annual rivalry game on Monday, saying the Fighting Irish hadn't "lived up to their word."

As Kartje noted, the school's officials felt such a deal was "'a material advantage' to the Irish, whose place as an independent and scheduling flexibility already afforded them a considerable edge positioning for the Playoff over other programs, like USC, that are tethered to a conference. USC also had concerns about the CFP selection committee hitting schools hard for late-season rivalry game losses. Early-season rivalry game losses, however, have typically been less of a hinderance for teams in playoff contention."

USC instead "reversed course," per Kartje, and sought to play the matchup at the very beginning of the season, in "week zero," which Notre Dame rejected.

Notre Dame's potential automatic bid for finishing as a top-12 team has been controversial, potentially meaning another at-large bid ranked higher than them will miss out on the CFP. There are already five other automatic bids (the champions of the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, alongside the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion), and a top-12 ranked Notre Dame would make it six.

Dan Wolken of Yahoo Sports reported earlier in December that "athletic directors in other leagues, who learned from Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger about the memorandum of understanding that grants Notre Dame preferential playoff access, are threatening to freeze them out of future schedules."

USC may not have frozen Notre Dame out, necessarily, but the memorandum of understanding absolutely played a factor in negotiations between the schools falling apart. The result is a classic rivalry going unplayed between at least 2026-29, though the repercussions for Notre Dame may soon extend beyond just one matchup.