Photo – Images of Imagn. Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr (13) appears to pass.
Both Notre Dame and USC often describe their rivalry as “the longest intersectional rivalry in college football.”
That’s not accurate. It is the only intersectional rivalry in college football.
The only other nominees are Army vs. Air Force and Navy vs. Air Force, but the service academy matchups are more intrasectional than intersectional in spirit, with those three programs filling a singular space.
One thing is certain: Even as the very premise of the United States government is currently on a literal timeout, both the Army and Navy will continue to toy with the Air Force.
The same can’t be said for Notre Dame and USC. If the Trojans’ weaker impulses win, this rivalry will end after this weekend’s college football election, one year shy of its 100th anniversary.
Notre Dame’s last laugh?
Trojan cowardice
Everything in college football is about money: USC’s recognition of the Pac-12’s imminent death and thus jump to the Big Ten was due entirely to poor money management during the pandemic; and that move is the basis of the Trojans’ current superficial cowardice, but how foolish must someone be to allow one of the greatest rivalries in sports to die a year before its centenary?
Merchandise from next year’s game alone would help pay off a significant portion of the $11 million Lincoln Riley will be owed for the season. And it’s his salary and his ego that are killing this piece of college football more than anything.
Every college football fan, from Oklahoma fans to Notre Dame fans to Georgia Southern fans, every college football fan should criticize USC for wanting to end the Notre Dame-USC rivalry.
Let’s hope Notre Dame Stadium casts that shadow loudly, repeatedly and insultingly. https://t.co/j1r2f4db4I pic.twitter.com/KMMksLerZc
– Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) October 15, 2025
Riley left Oklahoma for USC in part (some realities of college football are repeated so many times unchallenged that the silence that counters them proves them to be true) because he didn’t like the idea of competing in the SEC.
Now, the Trojans worry that a trip to South Bend in mid-October each year will ruin their College Football Playoff hopes as they compete in the cutthroat Big Ten. That trip means this series benefits “only one” side of the rivalry.
With the final scheduled game between USC and Notre Dame scheduled for Saturday in South Bend, Lincoln Riley reiterated today that he hopes to continue the rivalry.
“Hopefully we can find a way to do it that makes sense for both parties and not just one,” Riley said.
—Ryan Kartje (@RyanKartje) October 16, 2025
Isn’t it a good thing USC thinks it has to worry about the College Football Playoffs under Riley? The Trojans have lost 12 games and counting in the last three seasons. Last year they had a losing record in the Big Ten.
At 5-1 right now, USC still has trips to Notre Dame, Nebraska and Oregon to navigate, and needs to finish no worse than 10-2 to even sniff the playoffs.
Note: FanDuel puts the Trojans’ playoff odds at a lofty +470.
Related: The Irish are 9.5-point favorites this weekend, with some books dabbling at -10 this week.
Losing to Notre Dame is not the reason USC keeps missing the playoffs.
Riley’s inability to put together a solid defense is. The Trojans’ refusal to acknowledge that they are a long way from the Big Ten’s top four is.
If Penn State decides on its next hire, USC could be in the running to finish No. 6 in the Big Ten, at best.
But then, a mediocre Big Ten team should let its pride put an end to the only intersectional rivalry in college football, one that dates back to when Knute Rockne made it a national sport, a team that has featured such iconic moments as the green jersey revealed behind a wooden Trojan horse in 1977, No. 1 Notre Dame beating No. 2 USC in 1988 to be on the brink of a national championship and, 20 years ago this month, the Bush Push.
Don’t confuse this even for a moment. Notre Dame has been outspoken all along.
The Irish want this series to continue and are making an effort to make scheduling work for the Trojans amid their (not) unique and challenging scheduling demands in the Big Ten.
Obviously, those demands come on top of the 2020 pandemic and World War II, the only times this series hasn’t been played in the last 99 years.
For USC, these demands can only be quelled Netflix money colliding with four different television contracts. The fact that the Trojans even entertained that ridiculous thought shows how pathetic it is that they could abandon this rivalry after 99 years.
Oh. Could Lincoln get his wish… 🤔 https://t.co/YNH3v7fN5N
-Tim Murray (@1TimMurray) October 16, 2025
Notre Dame did this itself once, ending an annual series with Michigan in 2014 to facilitate scheduling a partnership with the ACC. The Wolverines responded by playing the chicken dance over the stadium speakers when the Irish lost in 2013.
It can’t be said that Notre Dame had the last laugh with its 31-0 victory in 2014, as it wasn’t the last; The two revived the series in 2018 and 2019 and already have future plans.
The Irish needed a temporary respite.
USC needs to be honest with itself. He is not among the elite of college football.
Losing to Notre Dame may be the closest the Trojans get to making the playoffs in the 2020s. The Irish have won six of the last seven meetings, losing only in Marcus Freeman’s debut season in 2022.
Since then, Freeman has won the last two games by a combined score of 97-55. Maybe that’s what Lincoln Riley meant by this series benefiting “only” one side.
This is, in part, a bet on Freeman venting some frustration with former Notre Dame general manager Chad Bowden, and he spent an offseason listening to Bowden badmouth the Irish and praise Riley as the best coach he’s ever worked with.
Freeman stays calm in public, unless he’s talking to a referee on the sideline, but he has a huge competitive edge. He has certainly reminded his staff of how Bowden dismissed him all summer.
Frankly, USC’s signing of Bowden was viewed as a significant investment by the program that should elevate it into playoff contention, but how many more three-loss seasons can Riley endure to give Bowden’s recruitment enough time to make an impact?
Freeman would love to test that limit.
On the field, Notre Dame’s biggest advantage comes from its defense, which has regained its form after struggling to start the season. The Irish allow success little by little, but limit big plays.
USC relies on explosive plays on offense. Notre Dame’s secondary, led by likely All-American cornerback Leonard Moore, could ruin that hope.
Without starting center Ashton Craig, the Irish offense could struggle early.
USC’s running back room has been decimated by injuries, which could allow Notre Dame to lean its defense toward the pass rush, and the Irish have defensive ends and linebackers to apply pressure on Jayden Maaiva.
Maaiva has a bad habit of turning pressure into ugly sacks, with USC ranking 128th in the country in expected points lost per sack, according to CFB-graphs.com. my
Every sack Maaiva takes will have much of the punishing effect of an interception thrown to Moore.
Notre Dame has a couple of reasons to take him to USC this weekend.
The cowardice of the Trojans.
Chad Bowden’s mouth.
Playoff hopes.
Sooooo… let’s look for a CJ Carr touchdown, well over +200 in @FDSportsbook. https://t.co/d2bOwmQ7cO pic.twitter.com/5PxrYJbUSl– Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) October 17, 2025
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