Notre Dame fans just received the rivalry update that they have been asking for, but not the demands the Fighting Irish wanted
The Notre Dame-USC rivalry is officially back on. Did the Fighting Irish, however, cave in too much to the Trojan demands?
The Notre Dame-USC rivalry is officially back.
The two programs agreed to renew one of the most historic rivalries in all of college football, with a 4-year home-and-home contract set to begin during the 2030 season. Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish will travel to Los Angeles in Week 1 of that campaign, with Notre Dame hosting USC the following year in 2031.
For most Notre Dame fans, the reaction is straightforward: they are happy to have this rivalry back on the schedule. What makes college football so great is the competitive hatred that fan bases have for one another. Notre Dame and USC represent one of the most storied rivalries in the sport, and its absence from the schedule simply did not feel right.
For today, the celebration is warranted.
One of the greatest rivalries in college sports is back after it seemingly felt like things were trending in a bad direction. USC head coach Lincoln Riley appeared to have no desire to keep the game alive. But as we have learned, and as we already knew, this rivalry was bigger than one coach, one program, or any one person making the decision. This is about the history and tradition of two great programs.
With the news of this series agreement, the Notre Dame-Indiana home-and-home series scheduled for 2030-2031 has been cancelled. That feels like a good compromise to rebuild and preserve this great rivalry.
The terms of the deal and Notre Dame’s concession
For Notre Dame, however, the terms of this contract go against the entirety of the reason why there was a standoff in the first place. The Fighting Irish and USC have traditionally played this game at the tail end of the season. Part of Notre Dame’s hesitation was not wanting to move the matchup into the top of the schedule.
The Irish obviously had to give in to some level of demands to make this thing happen.
There will be those who say that Notre Dame caved, and honestly, they’re fine with believing that was the case. Notre Dame did give in to that part of the demand for USC. But there needs to be a question of whether the positioning on the schedule is worth ruining one of the best rivalries in all of college football.
That will be a heated debate over the next several days, perhaps even weeks, and it will almost exclusively get brought up again before the 2030 matchup.
What this means for Notre Dame fans
For those who have been Notre Dame fans their entire life, this is about getting that rivalry back. It is a joyous day, although it does feel like Notre Dame had to give in a little bit more than USC had to give to make this relationship continue. For every negotiation, there has to be some give and take from each side.
You can make an easy argument that more was given on Notre Dame’s side. However, the purists in the fanbase won’t care much about that right now.
