Marcus Freeman left no room for interpretation in a recent interview when speaking about the annual USC-Notre Dame rivalry. Freeman wants his Fighting Irish to play Lincoln Riley’s Trojans every single season.
The future of the USC-Notre Dame rivalry is very much on the chopping block. This season’s meeting is the last one on the current contract between the 2 schools. A report from Sports Illustrated last week stated that Notre Dame wanted a long-term extension of the rivalry series but USC offered just a 1-year extension. Notre Dame’s athletic director told SI the Fighting Irish believe USC and Notre Dame should play every year. Riley, however, has repeatedly cast doubt on the future of the series since taking the USC job in 2022.
“There are some changes that we’ve all just gotta accept, because it’s just part of it right now,” Riley said recently on the Always College Football podcast.
Riley has USC’s College Football Playoff prospects in mind when looking at the Notre Dame game. With a 9-game Big Ten schedule, the extra game against Notre Dame, in Riley’s view, provides only additional risk.
Freeman, by contrast, won’t shy away from USC.
“It’s pretty black and white for me. You want my opinion? I want to play them every single year,” Freeman said in an interview with Blue and Gold. “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.”
Notre Dame played 4 ranked opponents last season. It also played a road game at USC. Despite its Big Ten gauntlet, USC played the same number of ranked games. The Trojans went 6-6 in the regular season while the Irish went 11-1. In the College Football Playoff, Notre Dame beat Indiana, Georgia, and Penn State en route to the CFP National Championship game.
The contrasting approaches from the 2 head coaches are noteworthy when set against the backdrop of Riley’s career.
Riley took over for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma in 2017. He made 3 straight CFP appearances but never won a game. After Oklahoma announced plans to enter the SEC, Riley was gone within the year. Many criticized the head coach for running away from the SEC to join the Pac-12.
USC went 11-3 in Year 1 under Riley, and it opened Year 2 with a 6-0 record. Since, USC is 9-11. The Trojans might have played in the CFP in 2022 but lost by 23 points to Utah in the Pac-12 title game. They haven’t been on the Playoff’s radar since.
Riley is hoping to get back to the CFP in 2025, but with an otherwise weak nonconference schedule and a league slate that does not feature Ohio State or Penn State, the Trojans might actually need the Notre Dame game to have a shot.
Marcus Freeman wants Notre Dame to play USC every year Saturday Down South.
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