The Fighting Irish are still more than three months away from kicking off their 2025 campaign but a certain game on their season schedule already has major focus on it
Notre Dame’s annual rivalry series with USC is at risk of coming to an end next year
Notre Dame could be about to wave goodbye to its annual football series with the USC Trojans as the two programs stall on a new long-term deal.
When the Fighting Irish’s 2025 schedule was released in February, all eyes turned to when and where they would be playing their biggest rivals in what is one of college football’s most exciting games of the season. The blueblood programs have met 95 times since 1924, playing every year but three during World War II and one during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
Last season, Marcus Freeman’s side defeated their opponents in their first year as a member of the Big Ten Conference, winning 49-35 in California in their final regular-season game before going on a fairytale run throughout the College Football Playoff.
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In the upcoming season, Notre Dame will welcome the Los Angeles-based program to South Bend on October 18, which is the final game in the existing contract between the two universities.
USC has offered a one-year extension to play in Los Angeles in 2026, according to Sports Illustrated, but Notre Dame desires another long-term deal. However, due to uncertainty about the future CFP format, the Trojans are reluctant to commit to anything long-term.
The report also adds that the demands of greater travel from being a new member of the Big Ten have played their part in USC’s thinking, which has led to it also broaching the idea of moving next year’s game to a season-opening spot on the schedule.
Notre Dame is due to take on USC on October 18 as part of its 2025 regular season schedule
“We want the USC–Notre Dame rivalry to continue, which is why we offered an extension of our agreement,” USC associate athletic director Cody Worsham told SI. “It’s a special game to our fans and our institution. We will continue to work with Notre Dame on scheduling future games.”
As for Notre Dame, Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua made it clear that his school will continue to seek a long-term extension of the rivalry, telling SI that USC and Notre Dame should “play every year for as long as college football is played.”
The Fighting Irish recently agreed to a 12-year, home-and-home deal with the Clemson Tigers that is scheduled to begin in 2027, but university officials insist that it has no impact on their efforts to maintain their rivalry with USC.
Notre Dame currently operates as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, despite being an Atlantic Coast Conference member in all other sports outside of football. Nonetheless, the Irish have an agreement with the league to play five ACC football games per season.
Marcus Freeman led Notre Dame to a 49-35 victory on his side’s last visit to California last season
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips claims that the annual Clemson matchup will count toward that total in games that were already part of that rotation, which is five of the 12 years.
“I have been pretty clear that the rotation is the rotation and that is five games every year,” Phillips said at the 2025 ACC spring meetings last week. “The Clemson–Notre Dame piece of it is not a part of that rotational five. … The ones that had already been announced, that is part of this rotation that we have across 16 other schools besides Clemson.”
Notre Dame’s 2025 regular season schedule also includes games against Miami, Texas A&M, Purdue, Arkansas, Boise State, NC State, Boston College, Navy, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Stanford.