USC-Notre Dame rivalry ending after 78 straight seasons — with CFP change at forefront

The legendary USC-Notre Dame rivalry is staring at its end after 78 straight seasons.

The two schools announced their annual clashes won’t continue on Monday afternoon after failing to reach an agreement to maintain the football rivalry, which had begun back in 1926 and had only been interrupted during World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“USC and Notre Dame recognize how special our rivalry is to our fans, our teams, and college football, and our institutions will continue working towards bringing back The Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh,” the two programs said in a joint statement. “The rivalry between our two schools is one of the best in all of sport, and we look forward to meeting again in the future.”

The earliest the two schools could face one another again would be 2030, although USC indicated to Notre Dame they could play in 2028, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

Yahoo Sports reported that USC athletic director Jen Cohen and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua have agreed to find a way to restart the rivalry series as soon as 2030. 

USC had been ready to compromise with Notre Dame around when they played back in October, which would have kept things the same for the next two seasons and had Notre Dame head to Los Angeles in 2026, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

However, USC’s athletic director took a different view of things after Yahoo Sports reported in the wake of the drama surrounding the College Football Playoff that Notre Dame came to an agreement with the CFP last spring that guaranteed them a playoff berth if they finished in the top 12 of the rankings at the end of the season. 

Cohen then went back to Bevacqua last week and said that any game played between the two schools should be played in Week Zero. 

According to the report, Bevacqua notified USC that he would be declining the offer on Monday. 

Notre Dame was finalizing a two-year deal with BYU to play a home-and-home series in 2026 and 2027. 

NFL great and ex-USC receiver Keyshawn Johnson lambasted the news in a video posted to social media on Monday afternoon. 

“I don’t know what the F is going on with our athletic department. We got people in there that are not Trojans, that don’t know anything about being a Trojan, running our athletic department. We got a head coach (Lincoln Riley) that knows nothing about being a Trojan,” Johnson said.

“Why don’t we just not play football? How bout that? We not gonna play Notre Dame again until possibly 2030 is what I’m understanding. That doesn’t make any sense. I grew up on the Notre Dame-USC rivalry. And I’m not one to go in on my athletic department, nor am I one to go in on the USC football coach.”