There's plenty of focus on Notre Dame football's game this Saturday night against USC because it could be season-defining for both programs. However, there will be plenty of focus on the game because, as of now, it might be the last installment - at least for a little while - in one of the oldest annual rivalries in the sport.
With just days to go before this rivalry potentially goes the way of Notre Dame - Michigan State, or Notre Dame - Michigan, USC is claiming they're working to find any way possible to keep it alive. Unfortunately, the school's claims ring hollow considering the one thing it doesn't seem to be trying is just to ... play the game.
USC’s strange Notre Dame football rivalry stance feels more like stalling than saving
According to Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times, one avenue USC is looking at is putting next year's game on Netflix. The streaming giant reportedly reached out to the Trojans, inquiring about putting a game against Notre Dame in 2026 on the streaming giant.
The problem is that television networks own the rights to both teams until 2030. Netflix is said to have offered up a solution for that as well. Play the next game on a neutral site in Mexico. Unsurprisingly, the Big Ten and NBC don't believe that would get around the broadcast rights.
It's at this point that most readers are scratching their heads and wondering why this needs to be so complicated. While Kartje claims that USC really, truly, desperately wants to continue playing the annual rivalry, there's a much easier solution. Play it. Play it exactly as it's been played.
One of the Trojans' chief complaints is that they don't like going up against a non-conference rival in the middle of the conference slate. But the SEC is famous for having non-conference games scheduled late in the season. This is more about not wanting to face a team as good as Notre Dame than anything else.
It's also about USC not wanting to take the blame for killing the rivalry it's killing. If the Trojans are backing out of the annual rivalry against Notre Dame, they and their surrogates should do everyone the honor of not obfuscating.