USC coach Lincoln Riley accuses Notre Dame of ending storied rivlary

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USC Trojans head soccer coach Lincoln Riley is pointing fingers towards South Bend, Indiana.

The USC-Notre Dame soccer rivalry is among the finest within the sport, nevertheless it’s come to an finish as each packages have been unable to come back to an settlement on an extension to play one another for the 2026-27 season collection.

Riley made an look in entrance of the media earlier than his Trojans face TCU within the Valero Alamo Bowl, the place he didn’t thoughts taking a shot on the Preventing Irish.

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Head coach Lincoln Riley of the USC Trojans seems to be on previous to a sport towards the UCLA Bruins at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Nov. 29, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. (Harry How/Getty Photographs)

"It’s fairly easy. We each labored for months to attempt to discover a resolution," Riley defined, per The New York Post . "Notre Dame was very vocal about the truth that they might play us anytime, anyplace. Clearly, them not having a convention affiliation offers them a capability to be fairly versatile with their scheduling.

"We went again, Jen Cohen, our A.D., went again to Notre Dame roughly a few weeks in the past with a situation and a proposal that will prolong the collection for the following two years. That proposal was rejected."

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Riley wasn’t finished, although. He didn’t like how Notre Dame rapidly discovered a brand new opponent after the rejection.

"Not solely was it rejected, 5 minutes after we received the decision, it was introduced that they'd scheduled one other opponent, which I’ll give them credit score. That is perhaps the quickest scheduling act in school soccer historical past," he stated.

The staff Notre Dame went with as a substitute of USC was BYU, agreeing to a home-and-home collection as a substitute of going with their regular rival on the schedule.

In the meantime, USC continues to be making an attempt to determine who will fill out their schedule.

Notre Dame Preventing Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts after an Irish landing towards the Pittsburgh Panthers in the course of the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 15, 2025. (Charles LeClaire/Imagn Photographs)

Since 1926, the Trojans and Preventing Irish have been butting heads on the gridiron, taking part in 96 occasions with solely 4 missed video games over that span.

And people missed video games? Three from 1943-45 because of World Conflict II and one within the 2020 season as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

"We took Notre Dame at their phrase that they might play us anytime, anyplace," Riley added. "Had Notre Dame lived as much as their phrase and performed us anytime, anyplace, we might be taking part in within the subsequent two years, and searching forward after that, hopefully persevering with the collection."

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