USC head coach Lincoln Riley shades Notre Dame over rivalry break

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USC head coach Lincoln Riley is not happy with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

He claims that Notre Dame is at fault for the two schools failing to agree to extend their rivalry.

Riley said, “Had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere we’d be playing them the next two years,” during his press conference ahead of the Valero Alamo Bowl, in which the Trojans will face the TCU Horned Frogs.

According to Riley, USC had a proposal that would extend the Notre Dame-USC rivalry for two more seasons — and Notre Dame rejected it. Additionally, Riley says that the announcement of a Notre Dame home-and-home series against BYU for the next two seasons was made within five minutes of the rejection.

He said, “I’ll give them credit. That might be the fastest scheduling act in college football history,” referring to Notre Dame’s announcement.

Riley’s claims contradict the reporting from Yahoo! Sports that we cited when the pause in the Notre Dame-USC rivalry was announced. According to Yahoo! Sports, USC was concerned that a loss late in the season — the rivalry game is often played around Thanksgiving — could hurt its chances of making the College Football Playoff.

No matter what the truth is, consider this added fuel for whenever the rivalry resumes, especially if Riley and Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman are still in their current jobs.

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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: USC head coach Lincoln Riley shades Notre Dame over rivalry break

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