A “fart in a whirlwind” is costing Notre Dame a chance to continue one of the greatest traditions in college football history
People aren’t happy about the Notre Dame-USC rivalry potentially ending.
When you talk about the greatest rivalries in college football history, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. USC Trojans rivalry has to be on the short list. The two programs have played 95 times in their program history (Notre Dame leads the series 52-38-5), and those games have featured some great football players, instant classics, and a whole lot of on-field success. Both fanbases hate each other, and it is the best form of competitive anxiety every season.
That rivalry, unfortunately, appears to be slowly fading away. USC head coach Lincoln Riley has been very vocal over the last several months about the game and the complications that he sees with it continuing. Some of his objections include the difficulty with travel and the placement of the game on the back end of the schedule. Most who have followed the commentary, however, understand what the issue is. Riley wants an easier path toward the College Football Playoffs.
As you can understand, the rivalry potentially ending (not scheduled past the 2026 season) is upsetting the Fighting Irish fans. That is a rivalry that they grew up on, and it is near and dear to their hearts. It appears that people on the USC side aren’t too happy either, especially former Trojan player turned media member Petros Papadakis.
Papadakis spoke about the issue recently. He had some strong words for Riley and the others who are involved in trying to end this great rivalry.
“I know why Lincoln Riley doesn’t want to go play at Notre Dame,” Papadakis said. “They’re soft. They’re soft, and the bar is too high for him to go play that game. But if that’s the truth, then you’re too soft to be the USC coach, if you’re too soft to lead those guys into battle out there and not be better and not be more physically prepared for a physical football team. What makes you think that you’re going to go to Ohio State and win ever or Penn State and win ever or anywhere else? I mean, it just makes me so sick that something that is so deeply ingrained in our identity, if you’re a former player at USC or Notre Dame, or even a fan, and it’s such a big part of who we are as players to have played there against them, and that Lincoln Riley or even Jen Cohen just a fart in a whirlwind in the history of USC, can even say something about the rivalry and act like they have a say in it being played or not. That’s ridiculous.”
Lincoln Riley summed up perfectly
Papadakis’s perspective on this rivalry was perfect. While I’m not sure I have ever heard the phrase “fart in a whirlwind”, it feels like the perfect way to describe Riley. Regardless of your feelings on the rivalry continuing or not, it does feel pretty misguided for someone so new to the program to try to elicit a change that is so deeply entrenched in the history of their program. USC football was here long before Riley became the head coach, and it will be here long after he is gone.
Notre Dame fans should feel lucky to have someone like Marcus Freeman leading the program into the future. He is a head coach who has routinely welcomed competition and taken nothing but accountability for any failures he has had. We can’t say the same about the head man over in Southern California.
Let’s hope that Riley is forced to either change his perspective on the rivalry or completely force out of the Trojan program sometime in the near future. Rivalries are what makes college football so great, and he is costing Notre Dame one of the best traditions in the country.
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