Colin Cowherd Weighs In On Notre Dame vs. USC Rivalry Game Ending
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USC and Notre Dame will pause an illustrious college football rivalry for the immediate future.
The two programs confirmed Monday that USC and Notre Dame will not play each other in 2026. They’ve clashed 96 times over the last 100 years, only missing the annual meeting during World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Colin Cowherd frequently talks about USC football on his FS1 show. The pundit offered his spin on the move.
“When you’re a full and committed member of an elite conference like USC/BIG, you no longer need semi committed rivals from weaker conferences,” Cowherd wrote on social media. “Trojans were increasingly making the bigger sacrifice.”
USC, Notre Dame call off rivalry game
USC was also making a bigger sacrifice in the standings. Notre Dame has won seven of the last eight meetings, including a 34-24 victory at South Bend in October.
Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported that the schools were close to reaching a two-year extension that would have included a USC home game next November. However, the Trojans deemed the timing “not ideal,” given how harshly the College Football Playoff selection committee punishes teams for late-season losses.
USC must find a new opponent for its 2026 schedule, which already features demanding Big Ten matchups against Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State. The Trojans are 9-3 entering the Alamo Bowl against TCU on Tuesday, Dec. 30.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame promptly announced a home-and-home series with BYU over the next two seasons. The Fighting Irish hardly selected a cupcake replacement, as the Cougars also narrowly missed the CFP after an 11-2 season. They would have met this Saturday had Notre Dame not opted out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
USC and Notre Dame left the door open to reset their prestigious rivalry down the road.
“USC and Notre Dame recognize how special our rivalry is to our fans, our teams, and college football, and our institutions will continue working towards bringing back The Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh,” the schools said in a joint statement. “The rivalry between our two schools is one of the best in all of sport, and we look forward to meeting again in the future.”
This story was originally published by The Spun on Dec 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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