Notre Dame caves, lives up to Marcus Freeman's promise as USC rivalry game is officially back

One of college football's best rivalries is officially back.

The annual "Greatest intersectional rivalry" game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and USC Trojans was supposed to return to Los Angeles in 2026 after the two teams played in South Bend in 2025. But the two sides could not come to an agreement on when the game should be played, with USC wanting to move the game earlier in the season to accommodate their Big Ten Conference schedule. Notre Dame, meanwhile, wanted to leave it where it's traditionally been played: October in Indiana and November in LA.

Notre Dame, though, has no conference schedule to worry about, no potential conference championship game to consider. They set their own schedules, with a handful of games against ACC opponents their only obligation. Their special arrangement with the College Football Playoff, where simply getting to the Top 12 guarantees them a spot, despite the easier road they have, gives them yet another advantage.

ILLINOIS COACH BRET BIELEMA FIRES BACK AT NOTRE DAME AD OVER RECENT REMARKS: 'JUST JOIN A CONFERENCE'

Head coach Marcus Freeman also specifically addressed scheduling concerns, saying he'd play the game at any point in the season because it's good for the sport.

"It’s pretty black and white for me," Freeman said in 2025, per BlueAndGold.com. "You want my opinion? I want to play them every single year. When? I don’t care. I don’t care when we play them. Start of the season, middle of the season, end of the season — I don’t care. I want to play USC every year because it’s great for college football."

But when push came to shove, the Irish balked at moving the game earlier in the season, preferring instead to set up a remarkably, uh, generous schedule for themselves in 2026. USC walked away, leading head coach Lincoln Riley to repeatedly bring up that Freeman and the Irish had not lived up to their statements. The rivalry game was canceled, a disappointing end to one of the most highly anticipated games on the national college football calendar, not to mention for the fanbases of both schools.

Well, Monday morning brought welcome news: the Irish caved.

Notre Dame and USC both announced the return of the rivalry game, though not until the 2030 season. And sure enough, the game, at least for the four years of the new agreement, will be played early in the season, precisely as USC wanted.

"USC's historic rivalry with Notre Dame holds a special place in the history of college football, and we are happy to resume a series that means so much to the entire Trojan Family," said SC athletic director Jen Cohen in a statement. "It remains important for us to play this game early in the season, as it allows us to schedule competitively with our Big Ten peers and takes into account the health and best interests of our student-athletes and program. We are excited for our fans, and we look forward to more memorable matchups and unforgettable games between the Trojans and the Irish."

INDIANA COACH CURT CIGNETTI BECOMES UNSTOPPABLE THANKS TO LATEST DEVELOPMENT ON RECRUITING TRAIL

The first game in the renewed rivalry will be played in Week 1 of the 2030 season at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with the following season's game also set for Week 1 in South Bend. The games in 2032 and 2033 will both be in the first three weeks of the year, with the option to pick Week 1, 2, or 3.

Riley spoke to the media briefly about the rescheduled announcement.

"We're part of a conference. You know, we have a conference schedule to answer them to. We don't choose our own kickoff times," he said. "I just wanted it to make sense for our team in terms of playing the rest of the Big Ten and Big Ten team travel. And again, we just don't have the same flexibility in our schedule. It is what it is."

This outcome highlighted what was always obvious: the Irish need USC more than the other way around. Notre Dame's schedule this year is, well, not remotely comparable to most teams in the SEC and Big Ten. The Trojans, for example, play Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana, Washington and at Penn State. Indiana being the defending champions, but Oregon and Ohio state being arguably the two best teams heading into 2026. Along with a Penn State road trip, a tough home game against a top-25 level Huskies team, the UCLA rivalry game, and a road game at Wisconsin.

Notre Dame opens with a neutral-site game against Wisconsin, then hosts Rice and Michigan State before road games at Purdue and North Carolina. The Irish return home to face Stanford, travel to BYU, meet Navy at a neutral site, host Miami, Boston College and SMU, then close the regular season at Syracuse. Oh, and should they have a good season, as they hope, they won't face Ohio State, Oregon, or Indiana in a conference championship game. They'll simply coast into the playoff.

Without the rigors of a conference schedule to boost their resume, the Irish need USC to provide a game they can point to with the selection committee. Particularly if other schools move towards easier non-conference schedules. As coaches like Steve Sarkisian and Curt Cignetti have either tacitly or openly acknowledged.

Regardless of the motivations, it's a good thing for college football that Notre Dame-USC is back on the schedule. The more exciting non-conference games we can get, the better. As Nick Saban said recently, play 12 games against Power 4 teams and let the chips fall where they may.