Over the last two weeks, one subject has been dominating headlines for the Notre Dame football program. No, it’s not recruiting (despite Marcus Freeman being on a heater). No, it's the Irish getting a better chance to be a Top Four seed in the playoffs (though that’s huge). The thing that has dominated headlines the last few weeks is that USC is trying to weasel out of ending the long-running annual rivalry game between the two teams.
While some people initially tried to blame Notre Dame for the series ending, claiming they weren’t allowing enough concessions to the Trojans, the real culprits have been evident for a while now. USC head coach Lincoln Riley has especially been behind getting rid of the rivalry because he thinks it would be easier to make the playoffs.
USC's latest excuse to duck Notre Dame rivalry is getting exposed
Since it became obvious Lincoln Riley was the problem here, all sorts of takes have been offered, but analyst Josh Pate might have just offered the most correct one. Neither the Notre Dame football coach nor the man who leads USC should have the ability to end it.
Pate thinks that no one should be able to end this rivalry, when it comes right down to it:
“The AD at USC shouldn’t have the option. The president of USC shouldn’t have the option. The mayor of Los Angeles shouldn’t have the option because those come and go,” the college football analyst said on a recent podcast episode. “We’ve had dozens of head coaches and athletic directors at these respective institutions, and yet they’ve played this game 95 times since 1924.”
“You want to know what’s canceled this game since 1924? There was this pesky little World War II we had, and then there was COVID in 2020. That's it. Can you imagine that? War cancels your game. Pandemic cancels your game. Worried we may not make the playoffs because we're 9-3 instead of 10-2. Cancels the game. One of those is not like the other. Pathetic.”
Pate went on to say that in order to keep the series going, things need to change in college football. People need to understand how the strength of schedule works.
But above all, Lincoln Riley shouldn’t have a say about playing Notre Dame football every year. It should be understood that, whoever the Trojans or Fighting Irish coach is, the annual rivalry game is part of it when they take those jobs.