Lincoln Riley calls out Notre Dame for refusing to | College News
The century-old rivalry collection between USC and Notre Dame is taking a few years off, and as far as Lincoln Riley is anxious, that’s the fault of the Irish.
In his first public feedback since the collection was formally put on hiatus, the USC coach put the blame squarely on Notre Dame for not accepting USC’s most latest offer to continue the rivalry, which might have moved the 2026 recreation, normally scheduled in November, to the very starting of the season.
“It’s pretty simple,” Riley said Monday, forward of USC’s bowl matchup with Texas Christian. “We both worked for months to try to find a solution. Notre Dame was very vocal about the fact that they would play us anytime, anywhere.
“Jen Cohen, our AD, went back to Notre Dame roughly a couple of weeks ago with a scenario and a proposal that would extend the series for the next two years. We took Notre Dame at their word that they would play us anytime, anywhere. That proposal was rejected.
“Not only was it rejected, but five minutes after we got the call, it was announced they scheduled another opponent, which I’ll give them credit, that might be the fastest scheduling act in college football history.”
The Times reported last week that the Playoff choice earlier this month proved to be a turning level for USC’s administration in talks with Notre Dame. The realization that the Irish — by advantage of a facet settlement with the College Football Playoff committee that arms them a bid if ranked in the top 12 — would have gotten into the sector over Miami particularly gave USC pause.
That’s when Cohen returned to Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua with an offer for the rivals to face off in the season opener. Notre Dame instead scheduled Brigham Young to fill that emptiness over the next two seasons.
Riley has been roundly criticized for his half in the rivalry’s potential demise after he prompt in August 2024 that the annual collection could possibly be in hazard, if USC proved an excessive amount of of a hurdle in the Trojans’ path to the College Football Playoff.
In the spring, as negotiations between the 2 faculties stalled and the public pointed fingers at Riley and USC, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said that persevering with the rivalry was “pretty black and white for me.”
“I want to play them every single year,” Freeman said. “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 I think it’s great for college football.”
After initially holding firm on its intent to renegotiate phrases of the rivalry year-to-year, so as to wait on adjustments to the College Football Playoff format, USC despatched an amended offer to Notre Dame before the season that would have prolonged the collection for two seasons. But Notre Dame needed a longer deal.
The two faculties practically got here to an settlement in October, around their last assembly in South Bend. USC had made clear that it needed to play the sport earlier in the season, but was warming up to the thought of persevering with the collection as is through 2027.
USC determined to dig its heels in after Selection Sunday, returning to USC with a last offer to play early in the 2026 season. Notre Dame declined.
“The fact is very, very clear, this can all be settled very quickly,” Riley said. “Had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere, we would be playing in the next two years, and looking ahead after that, hopefully continuing the series.
“They did not follow through on it, thus we are not playing them the next couple years. We’re hopeful something can be worked out in the future. That would be fantastic. We at SC would love for the game to continue. We have no problem following through on our promises in the future.”
It’ll be a while before those negotiations start up again. The next window in which USC might play Notre Dame is during the 2030 season.
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