It is entirely possible that Notre Dame's 34-24 win over USC on Saturday night was the last time the Irish will be able to beat down their longtime rival for quite a while.
Rumors are swirling that the longest rivalry series in college football is about to be over. There is no contest between the two teams scheduled beyond this season. And considering how often ND has beaten the Trojans in recent years, Lincoln Riley and Co. might back out of the series for that reason alone.
If the series does end, ESPN's David Hale knows who to blame. He didn't hold back when writing his latest wrap-up of Week 8 late on Saturday night. In fact, he took some serious shots at USC in favor of Notre Dame, and he absolutely went for the jugular when he laid out why the Trojans might decide it's better to let the rivalry die.
Hale included the series in his "trending down" portion of the post, once again hinting that the 2025 contest might have been the last for quite a while.
"USC has suggested it might not continue the rivalry, which has been played 96 times dating back to 1926, and definitely not just because Lincoln Riley said it was making him look bad, and it'd be way more fun to play Portland State."
And then he took the shot that will sting for a while for USC fans.
"Instead, USC feels that, now that it's in the Big Ten where it routinely gets to lose games to Illinois, Minnesota and Maryland, there's really no need for higher-profile losses out of conference."
If this whole thing does get shut down, at least people know who to blame. Hopefully, the pressure will be too much and USC will want to save face and work something out with Notre Dame before it's too late.