Notre Dame vs. USC rivalry to return in 2030
Nicole Auerbach and Joshua Perry react to Notre Dame and USC renewing their rivalry when the 2030 season rolls around.
Video Transcript
Usc Notre Dame is coming back.
So on Monday, USC and Notre Dame announced that they're resuming the rivalry.
It's starting in 2030.
They scheduled a four-game home and home series, to start.
And, and honestly, I, like, I kinda understand this.
College football's changing drastically.
Yes.
So obviously they're gonna intend to play each other every year, but like, so don't worry about that.
Like, it's not like it's only these four years.
It's starting, in Los Angeles in, in 2030, and then it goes to South Bend.
So these games, so we have the dates for the first two.
Okay.
They're gonna be week one, August 31st.
Okay.
Okay.
So then the 2032 and '33 seasons will be played early.
So it's between, it's by the end of week three.
And this is what USC desired.
This is exactly what USC wanted.
So Lincoln Riley and company had been pushing for this game to get played before Big 10- Right conference play because they're like, "We're already gonna have travel across the country.
Why would we add something then that is s- super difficult?"
And Notre Dame's like, "We wanna have a little bit of a something on the later part of our schedule."
Well, because right now they just rely on the ACC- Right to help them out because everyone else is in conference play.
Right.
and obviously the tradition, and a lot of Notre Dame fans will just be like, "It's more meaningful to play late," right?
Like, you know, it's the last game of the year in the middle of October.
Yeah.
And, you're also more of who you are by then.
Sure.
Like you should be eased into the season.
But USC's argument has been about, like, the change in their schedule- Mm-hmm and conference and how all of that works.
And all the travel that they have to do.
Yes.
Most- Why would you throw it in in the middle of a conference race- Right that you're contending for?
Right.
So yes, so this is basically what USC was asking for.
They also wanted to do it more of a shorter term deal.
But the good news is it's coming back at all, right?
Yeah.
This is, it's not gonna be played this year, which is a bummer 'cause both teams are actually, like, the best they've been potentially under both of these coaches.
I mean, Notre Dame is on the short list of teams that could win the title.
That could win the national championship.
And, and people are looking at USC as, like, it's probably the year you gotta make the College Football Playoff.
And he, and Lincoln Riley said that.
Like, you can look up interviews on NBC Sports and on our YouTube page where he talks about that.
Like, the time is now.
They are not, like, running away from that.
Mm-hmm.
So it would've been awesome to have this year, although USC's schedule would've just been absolutely brutal if that was the case.
Yeah.
It would've been a, been a tough- But either way, it's not happening this year, but this is the first break outside of World War II and the pandemic that this rivalry has not been played.
It dates back to 1926.
It is one of the great national college football rivalries.
So it's, it's a huge bummer.
It's gonna be weird to watch Notre Dame end the season at Syracuse- and not against USC.
So when we talk about this in the history of the sport, we're gonna talk about, you know, like, consequential geopolitical things that happened, and then we're gonna talk about, like- Just not agreeing to schedule because the Big 10.
Yeah.
We're gonna talk about, like, a public health crisis that changed the world.
Yeah, wherever- And then we're gonna be like, "And then they were just bickering."
And then also 2026- Like housewives through 2029- Yeah is a hiatus.
Golly.
So, so one part, that again I think is, is, we have to talk about a little bit is that Indiana was scheduled to play Notre Dame.
That predated Kurt Signatti.
Mm-hmm.
So that game comes off the schedule.
That allows them to do this as soon as possible, and both of these sides had continued to talk, about wanting it to continue.
Again, it was just sort of like the preferences of w- basically when.
Right.
And, you know, I had heard a while back that Notre Dame was open to that.
The problem was these next couple of years they had games scheduled that, these game contracts have the date in them.
Yes.
So they couldn't move them.
And then obviously they've scheduled BYU to fill some of these spots, for the next two years after this game got canceled.
But, like, USC wanted to play, remember they talked about trying to play Mexico- Right week zero.
There was, there was a lot of different things.
Right.
Week zero was a possibility.
But there was just, things got a little complicated.
But again, I think we have lost a number of college football rivalry games over the years and due to realignment, due to other things, like, I don't know if we're ever gonna get, like, Bedlam back.
Yeah.
Oklahoma-Oklahoma State, because they were so upset.
We got the Backyard Brawl back, the Border War.
Some of these have gotten rescheduled.
I'm glad we're getting this.
I know it's gonna suck for a, you know, to have three years without it.
Yeah.
Four year, four years without it.
And it does feel a little bit far away.
I know Notre Dame fans are like, "USC just got everything that they wanted in this," but at the same time- Well, but- you just, you want it back.
Right.
And I'll say this, right?
Like, I think, I think it was always gonna have to be Notre Dame giving up a little bit more than they wanted to in this negotiation because- Well, they had the most flexibility with their schedule they have flexibility.
You wanna be an independent.
Like th- this is part of- Yeah the thing that But you also, I feel like you needed to have that game a little bit more than USC, who has a Big 10 conference schedule.
Yeah.
You know?
So, I'm glad it's back.
You want, you want the USC game to anchor the schedule.
Yes.
Yes.
And so I'm glad it's back.
And I agree with what you said, like, there have been a lot of things I haven't really loved about the changing landscape of college football, but anytime I feel like we're losing parts of history when it comes to the game or things that have always made the game great, like, it's really, really disappointing.
So knowing we'll get to see this in a few years, it's a big thumbs up.
Big thumbs up.
And it's also funny that that's happening on today that we're talking about this because, like, we literally just walked by the hallway where there's the countdown to the game.
And it's at all times at Ohio State.
All times.
Michigan has one too, right?
I'm sure they do.
This one's more famous, though.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's a countdown.
I should know that, actually.
Well But it's a countdown to the game at all times.
Everyone can know exactly how many days, hours, minutes, seconds.
Yes.
And so these rivalries are really important.
They're what make college football college football.
So, glad that it's coming back in 2030.
Yes.
We'll just get used to it happening early in the season on an annual basis.
