RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley is addressing head-on the elephant in the room for his team: the lack of a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish this season.
The annual matchup between two of college football 's blue bloods has often helped define the chase for a national championship, but this year, the storied programs won't meet on the field after contracts expired at the end of last year.
Negotiations have resumed , but so too has the finger-pointing. The latest to get a jab in was Riley.
Speaking at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, Riley confirmed that both he and USC very much want to resume the battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh, as shown in video shared by On3's Scott Schrader .
He began by referencing comments he made late last year .
“The fact is very, very clear, and this can all be settled very quickly — had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere, we would be playing them the next two years and looking ahead after that and hopefully continuing the series,” Riley said in December. “They did not follow through on it. Thus, we are not playing them the next couple years.”
That "anytime, anywhere" comment was pointing to what USC reportedly wants: to play Notre Dame at the start of the season, the so-called Week 0.
Traditionally, the game has been played in mid-to-late October when at Notre Dame or as the regular season finale when at USC.
On Tuesday, Riley reiterated that he believes the Irish did not live up to their word.
"Nothing's changed from my vantage point. We want to play the game. I want to play the game," he said. "We would be playing the game had some things came true that were said. Hopefully we get to that point."
To be clear, Notre Dame has also said they want to play the matchup.
“Do we want to play USC in the future? 100%, yeah,” Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said earlier this year, as reported by Pete Simpson of The Athletic . “We think that’s great for Notre Dame. We think it’s great for USC, we think it is great for college football . And at this point, that’s really all I can say about that.”
With the current state of the team's schedules, it seems 2030 might be the earliest the series could resume.
Until then, both sides are stuck pointing fingers.
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