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USC Trojans football head coach Lincoln Riley maintains that he wants to continue to play against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
As a reminder, the two schools failed to come to an agreement to continue their rivalry this season. It would've been the 97th time the two teams met. They've played against each other in 78 of the last 79 seasons, taking a break only for the COVID-altered schedule in 2020. Before that, the two teams only took a break for World War II -- that conflict led to a three-year hiatus.
USC has been blaming Notre Dame for the failure to come to an agreement, though the Trojans did have a concern that the game's traditional late-season timing could negatively affect College Football Playoff hopes, since the committee seems to weigh late-season losses more heavily. Because of that concern, the Trojans weren't able to finalize a deal to keep the matchup going at its usual place on the schedule. USC did offer to move the game to Week 0, but that didn't work out, and Riley and USC claim it's Notre Dame's fault. Their evidence seems to be that the Irish filled the schedule with a home-and-home series against BYU pretty quickly.
Riley is continuing to suggest that Notre Dame should take the blame.
"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 that point," he said in a press conference.
Regardless of who is at fault, the two schools are working to bring the rivalry game back, perhaps as soon as 2030, according to Yahoo! Sports.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.
Follow Tim on X: @tehealey
This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Lincoln Riley continues to blame Notre Dame for rivalry hiatus
Continue reading...
As a reminder, the two schools failed to come to an agreement to continue their rivalry this season. It would've been the 97th time the two teams met. They've played against each other in 78 of the last 79 seasons, taking a break only for the COVID-altered schedule in 2020. Before that, the two teams only took a break for World War II -- that conflict led to a three-year hiatus.
USC has been blaming Notre Dame for the failure to come to an agreement, though the Trojans did have a concern that the game's traditional late-season timing could negatively affect College Football Playoff hopes, since the committee seems to weigh late-season losses more heavily. Because of that concern, the Trojans weren't able to finalize a deal to keep the matchup going at its usual place on the schedule. USC did offer to move the game to Week 0, but that didn't work out, and Riley and USC claim it's Notre Dame's fault. Their evidence seems to be that the Irish filled the schedule with a home-and-home series against BYU pretty quickly.
Riley is continuing to suggest that Notre Dame should take the blame.
"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 that point," he said in a press conference.
Regardless of who is at fault, the two schools are working to bring the rivalry game back, perhaps as soon as 2030, according to Yahoo! Sports.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.
Follow Tim on X: @tehealey
This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Lincoln Riley continues to blame Notre Dame for rivalry hiatus
Continue reading...
