Bullet point summary by AI
- A major college football rivalry has hit a tense pause due to strategic concerns from one conference’s perspective.
- Lincoln Riley’s public statements about wanting to play the game clash sharply with USC’s recent actions.
- The decision reflects a calculated risk assessment that could define both teams’ playoff trajectories for years to come.
USC is scared of Notre Dame. It’s been beyond obvious since negotiations between it and Notre Dame to continue their historic rivalry collapsed earlier this year but Lincoln Riley spun his own narrative about the situation at Big Ten media days.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley was asked for an update on the rivalry with Notre Dame.
“Nothing’s changed from my vantage point. We want to play the game. I want to play the game. We would be playing the game had some things come true that were said. And so hopefully we get to… pic.twitter.com/6Ytg6ISkZM
— Matt Freeman (@mattfreeman05_) July 28, 2026
“Nothing’s changed from my vantage point,” he told reporters from the podium Tuesday. “We want to play the game. I want to play the game. We would be playing the game had some things come true that were said. And so hopefully we get to that point.”
In the wise words of Tom Hardy from Mad Max: Fury Road, “That’s bait.” Riley’s take on the rivalry’s pause is nothing more than a Trojan horse of timidity that’s attempting to pass as overconfidence. According to previous reports on the talks between the storied programs, USC broke things off over the fact that the highly anticipated contest would be played late in the season — as a rivalry game typically is — therefore exposing Riley’s side to what it viewed as undue punishment by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee for a potential loss.
Lincoln Riley is the biggest hypocrite in USC-Notre Dame’s stalled rivalry
The words coming from USC’s side of things just aren’t adding up to their actions. Riley also claimed Tuesday his team is “championship-ready” and puffed his chest about delivering on the field.
“You got to go win the games,” he added. “We have the people to do it. We have more reasons why we should and could do it versus why maybe we can’t.”
Okay, then how come USC refuses to play it’s consistently highest-ranked and highest-quality opponent anymore? And is Riley not the same coach that complained about how the team has to travel to the Midwest and play in cold weather against Big Ten opponents? My brother in Christ, your school literally dismantled the Pac-12 in order to join the Midwest-based conference.
Winning games is, of course, key to qualifying for the CFP and USC has only won once in its last nine meetings with Notre Dame (3-12 since 2014). But Riley’s semantics, combined with the school’s shady retreat from a tough opponent, look more like the SEC’s formula for padding a resume and the win column then expecting to be treated like football royalty.
Riley and the Trojans will talk a big game about wanting to play Notre Dame and hope the desire to beat the Irish will count for something in pursuit of a CFP berth. Until the school regains its national competitive prominence (if it ever does), only then will it revisit the rivalry with more certainty it can actually gain something out of it beyond the novelty. It’s kind of a wise move actually but it doesn’t change the fact that Riley’s hot air makes it crystal clear the only reason USC won’t play the Notre Dame is because it knows, for now, there’s a much greater chance it’ll lose than not.
More college football news and analysis:
Add us as a preferred source on Google
