Notre Dame vs. USC rivalry to go on hiatus as two sides fail to reach extension, per report

While Notre Dame has finalized a home-and-home series with BYU, USC is seeking a replacement opponent

USC and Notre Dame failed to reach an agreement on playing one another during the 2026 season, placing the future of their annual rivalry game in jeopardy, according to Yahoo Sports. USC is seeking a replacement opponent while Notre Dame announced a home-and-home series with BYU to take place in 2026 and 2027. Notre Dame's trip to Provo will round out its 2026 schedule. 

USC and Notre Dame are still working to restart the series as soon as 2030, Yahoo reports, though scheduling complications and College Football Playoff considerations put one of college football's most storied rivalries on hiatus. 

"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," Notre Dame and USC 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 Fighting Irish and the Trojans have played yearly since 1946 other than a brief pause in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"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," Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua told Sports Illustrated in May. 

USC coach Lincoln Riley, meanwhile, cast doubt on the future of the game. 

"There (have) been a lot of teams that sacrifice rivalry games," Riley told reporters at 2024 Big Ten Media Days. "I'm not saying that's what's going to happen, but as we get into this playoff structure and if it changes or not, we get into this new conference, we're going to learn some about this as we go and what the right and best track is to winning a national championship."

Notre Dame and USC were on the verge of finalizing a two-year extension in November, Yahoo reports, though USC officials backed out after determining that the timing of the proposed game was not ideal given the CFP selection committee's tendency to punish late-season losses. 

USC also has to deal with the rigors of a Big Ten schedule that sees it play nine conference games on a yearly basis. The Trojans faced three ranked opponents during their 2025 Big Ten slate, while Notre Dame has the flexibility of scheduling as an independent outside of its agreement with the ACC. 

Notre Dame has won three consecutive games, and seven of its last eight, against USC. The Fighting Irish also hold an all-time series record of 51-37-5.

Notre Dame opened the 2025 season with losses to Miami and Texas A&M before rattling off 10 consecutive victories to finish 10-2. However, the Irish were left out of the College Football Playoff field. Next season, Notre Dame will open its season against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field and will face Rice, Michigan State, Miami, Boston College, SMU and Stanford at home and Purdue, North Carolina, Syracuse and BYU on the road with a neutral-site game against Navy in Foxborough, Massachusetts.