Notre Dame vs. Southern California, one of college football’s biggest and longest rivalries, is on pause.
The Fighting Irish announced Monday they had filled their last 2026 open date with a trip to BYU as part of a home-and-home series. The two teams left out of this year’s College Football Playoff also will play in 2027, but Notre Dame only has nine games listed on that schedule, raising the possibility of bringing back the USC game.
While there is a chance Notre Dame or USC could buy out a game to keep the series active, it seems unlikely after Monday’s announcement.
“USC and Notre Dame recognize how special our rivalry is to our fans, our teams and college football and our institutions will continue working to bring back the Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh,” Notre Dame and USC officials 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 in the future.”
Notre Dame and USC first played in 1926 and the Irish lead the series between the two traditional powers 53-38-5.
The series also was put on hold from 1943-45, during World War II. They also did not play in 2020 when the pandemic prompted most schools to play a conference-only schedule. Representatives from both schools, including Irish coach Marcus Freeman, have repeatedly said they want the rivalry to continue.
“It’s very clear, let’s continue this thing and that’s it,” Freeman said in mid-October in the lead up to the game. “They handle the rest of it. (Athletic director) Pete Bevacqua and (deputy athletic director for football) Ron Powlus and our leadership, they’ll handle the discussions with them. But they know the head coach of this football program desires to continue this rivalry.”
It’s not the first time Notre Dame has put a big rivalry on hold.
The Irish used to face Michigan and Michigan State almost annually starting in the 1970s. But they haven’t played the Wolverines since 2008 and haven’t played the Spartans since 2017.
Notre Dame also played Purdue every season from 1946-2014. They squared off again in 2021 and have played each of the past two years, too.
Negotiations became more challenging when USC joined the Big Ten last season because the Trojans would prefer to play non-conference games in August or September. The two schools that have combined to win 22 national championships and produced 15 Heisman Trophy winners have traditionally met in October or November.
Next year, to the dismay of many, though, they’re unlikely to play at all.
“I have no space to think of why somebody would want to do that,” Las Vegas Raiders coach and former USC coach Pete Carroll said Monday. “I hope that doesn’t carry over to other matchups that have been so important to people over the years and so much fun, not so much the teams. It’s for the fans and for the alumni. That’s too bad. I’m disappointed to hear that.”
___
AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson contributed.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
