One of the most interesting things about all the talk about the Notre Dame football and USC series being on life support is that it’s been on life support for quite a while. We started sounding the alarm bells last summer, and yet it’s taken some time for the rest of the college football world to notice what Lincoln Riley especially is trying to do.
The other interesting aspect of this saga is that, as people like Pat Forde have woken up to the reality of the situation, almost everyone seems to understand that if and when the series dies, it won’t be because the Fighting Irish want it to end.
Notre Dame wants the rivalry to live—USC seems ready to kill it
The Trojans are taking all the heat as they should be. It benefits them a great deal more if they don’t play Notre Dame football every year than the other way around. And that might end up being the key to keeping it around.
USC is clearly worried about public perception. It has always been the narrative that if the Irish and Trojans don’t play every year anymore, it will be because the California school joined the Big Ten and doesn’t want a non-conference game they can lose as often as they have.
As the pressure mounts to keep the series going, as the pressure mounts not to get rid of yet another college football tradition in the interest of financial gain, there’s a chance that the pressure could keep USC from bailing.
If things fall through and the series dies die, as it looks like it will, the Notre Dame football team has a backup plan in place in the form of the Clemson Tigers. However, it’s obvious that the Fighting Irish would like to have both series in the same season. Unfortunately, it’s just not up to them.