If USC didn't look bad enough weaseling out of the Notre Dame series late last year, replacing the Fighting Irish with San Jose State certainly did the trick. Lincoln Riley and his company showed their whole hand with its replacement game for the 2026 season. Especially when looking at how their non-conference schedule now shapes up.
On Wednesday, the Trojans announced they will open the 2026 season against a Spartans team that posted a 3-9 record this past season as a member of the Mountain West. Not exactly a squad on the level of Marcus Freeman's national contending team.
While USC claimed over and over again that dropping the Notre Dame series wasn't about being afraid of losing to the Irish, the Trojans' non-conference schedule is now San Jose State, Fresno State, and Louisiana. If they don't go 3-0 with that slate, Riley might not make it to the Big Ten schedule.
USC announces San Jose State as 2026 opener replacing Notre Dame series
As revealed when the nation's longest-running rivalry series was killed off by USC this winter, Notre Dame immediately went out and got a team that might actually be better to fill the hole in the schedule. Instead of signing up for a losing program, BYU is a new home-and-home rival.
That replacement is just another reason why the idea that the Irish were the ones to back out of the rivalry is utterly ridiculous. Why would ND dump USC for a tougher opponent? Why would they dodge a team they've won eight of the last 10 games against?
The Trojans, on the other hand, while paying lip service to wanting to keep the Notre Dame rivalry going, clearly always wanted it to fall apart. They didn't want to take on a playoff contender as a non-conference opponent. They got what they want, and they look even more pathetic with this week's announcement of their latest cupcake addition to a cupcake schedule.